Coming Home
by chibihinachan
Summary: When a decommissioned Konoha shinobi returns after a long hiatus, what will happen when she meets the Copy Nin on the way home? Why do each feel a pull towards each other, yet both resist the urge to be together?What is her story, and will Kakashi be the one to teach her to let go?A story of lost love, and finding it in another.Angst, no tragedy, ooc x kakashi, officially M-rated
1. Chapter 1

Soooo...first story on . hmmmm I'm nervous for what I'm gonna get from reviews. Please be kind, I'm very prone to crying, although I'll also be crying when I get my first good review. So hmmm to recap: I'll cry if you give me a harsh review, if you give me a good review, and even if you don't give me a review at all. So really, I'm just a crybaby haha. *scratches back of neck sheppishly like Kakashi*

Kakashi: Hey! That's my thing!

Me: bleeeeeeehhh! *sticks out tongue*

But please please review and please be kind. Thank you so much! *hands out candies and other junk food. :D*

Disclaimer: hmmmm I don't own naruto. *goes into depression* BUT I OWN THIS STORY! *aaaaand I'm out of it XD*

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: Sasuke is back, but the Pain arc is still going to happen, as is the rest of the stuff not involving Sasuke. I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?) So basically, this is set in the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime (eps 144-151). Enjoy!

liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

Coming Home - Chapter 1

"mmmm..." a small girl stirred in the shadows of a cave lit only by a small fire.

_'where am I? What happened?'_

"Don't move. You're hurt badly." came a low gravelly voice, one that sounded like it came from an old man.

Opening her eyes, Lina was surprised to see that it actually belonged to a rather young-looking fellow. Unable to get a clear view of him due to the only light being a tiny fire in a dark cave, the only thing she could make out was that his features seemed to be smooth as porcelain, not marred by scars at all. If she had been able to focus more clearly, she would have noticed that he did in fact have a small scar on his chin, a mark that looked like an arrow had made it. But no, for now Lina was too exhausted and too in pain to think of anything except_ 'Ow ow ow...'._

"Who are you?"

"No one. Rest." And just like that, as if she was placed under a spell, she let go of all her resistance and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. Her last waking thought was_ 'Is this a jutsu? Well, I can't do anything about it now. Gotta remember to thank him when I wake up...IF I wake up.'_

liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

It had been days since she first woke up and met the young man who apparently saved her, yet she was so weakend that she had only woken up sporadically, mostly with him shaking her to get her to eat. Never speaking, he only handed her food or applied medicine to her wounds. The blizzard had died down a couple of days after it began, and she noticed tracks leading to and from the cave entrance while she was awake, indicating that her savior (savior? when did she start thinking of him like that?) had left her several times while she was asleep.

It made sense, since each time she woke up it seemed that there was something new to eat, berries, fish, even a bunny once. Thankfully, he had skinned and cooked it before serving her, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to hold it down. Despite being a shinobi, she was far too gentle to kill such adorable creatures. That had been her undoing in the end, leading to her current situation.

_'Enough reminiscing_,' Lina chided. '_Here I am, finally awake and alert, and all I can think about is the past? What kind of shinobi am I? Well, ok, maybe I can't really call myself a shinobi, considering it's been so long since I've even heard anything about Konoha.' 'But!' _her inner self pumped its fist _'I am still a shinobi! I still have the pride and will of fire that Sandaime always spoke of. Regardless of all that's happened, I must not forget. Oh God, and just a moment ago I was saying I shouldn't be thinking about the past, yet here I go again. I'm really hopeless sometimes...oooh I think the guy's back! Hmm...should I pretend to sleep? Yeah, ok, I'll pretend and see how long it takes him to figure it out.'_

She had regained her senses and alertness a day ago, and had come to the conclusion that the young man who had been tending to her was not a threat to her, even though he did seem to be a shinobi of sorts. Now, as she watched him through her eyelashes, she found that his movements were precise and unhurried, as if he was a medic-nin, yet she knew he couldn't be since he hadn't used chakra when healing her. He had no forehead protector that promoted his village, so she had no clue of his specialties. Then again, he could always be a missing-nin. But in her experience most missing-nin weren't likely to heal a fellow shinobi.

"I know you're awake. Get up." that low gravelly voice soft yet stern snapped her back to reality.

Slowly getting up, she said warily "Who are you?"

Not saying anything, he shoved some food in her face. "Eat."

Unsettled by his rudeness despite his gentleness when caring for her, she decided to annoy him a little. Poking and prodding at the food as if it were poisoned, she noticed a twitch from the corner of her eye. Smiling to herself, she dug in before he decided he was being too nice and take the food away. Finishing it quickly, she set it aside and pointedly said "Thank you."

"Hm."

All of the sudden a wave of dizziness and the need to sleep overwhelmed her, and she collapsed on the ground. _'What's going on? Don't tell me he actually DID drug me?!' _Her last vision before her eyes shut was the man slipping a blanket over her body, picking up his pack, and leaving the cave. Then everything went black.

liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

_'Mmmm...what happened? Why is everything black? Oh right, my eyes are closed. Ok, time to wake up. Wait, why can't I open my eyes?' _Rubbing furiously at her eyes, Lina finally opened them to find herself still in the cave, alone. Getting up, she ventured towards the light that indicated the opening of the cave, and found herself freezing in the middle of a winter morning. How long had she been in the cave? What day was it? Sadly, with no one around her, she had no way of knowing. Testing her limbs and reflexes, Lina found herself almost as good as new, and the drug that the stranger had put in her food seemed to not have caused any damage to her. Still...why had he drugged her? Suddenly, panicking, she ran towards her pack, only to find that it had been left untouched. So many questions, so few answers. But it doesn't matter, she had to leave, now. She had been stuck in this damn cave for too long, her enemies could have found her by now. In fact, since she didn't know how long it had been, it was highly possible that they were outside at this very moment, lying in wait for her to venture out.

Despite her insanely daredevil antics when she was a Genin, age and experience had taken its toll on her emotionally, and shaped her into a more cautious shinobi. Although really, at the age of 29, she wasn't really OLD, just old for a shinobi. 1 more year, and she would REALLY be old. I mean come on, a 30 year old shinobi that's still fighting in the frontlines?! That was basically unheard of unless you were brilliant...but I digress. Forming hand signs, she quietly spoke 'Kuchiyosen no jutsu', and summoned a lone golden retriever ninken.

"Daisuke, at your service." responded the dog.

"Dai-chan, I need you to sniff the outside of this cave for me. See if anybody is out there, or any traps and stuff. Ok?"

"Sure, Lina-_kun_, anything for you."

"Oi oi! What's with the -kun?!"

"Well, what's with the -chan?! I've told you so many times how much I hate it. I'm not a pet, and more importantly I'm not a girl! Don't patronize me, or one day I'll simply not help you."

"Hai, hai. But calling you Dai-kun sounds funny, and I don't like calling you Dai, Suke, or any other variant! Besides, you're my precious Dai-chan, the only one who's been with me since I left Konoha all those years ago. If I haven't earned the right to call you Dai-chan, I don't know what more I need to do! Anyway, that's not the point, outside! Please and thank you." Lina winked as Daisuke glared his doggy glare at her before padding off to the front of the cave.

Several minutes passed before he came back. "All clear. But why are you in this cave? If I remember correctly, the last time you summoned me was when you were in the Ame (Hidden Rain). It's only been about a month since then, how did you get to Snow country so quickly?** You can't have gone through Fire Country, considering how many enemies you've made, and I know you don't like confrontation unless absolutely necessar-hey! Where are you going? I'm still talking!"

"Shhh. I'll explain later. We need to get out of here first, I'm getting antsy. You know I hate being in 1 place for too long, and I've already stayed here for what looks like over a week. Now come on, and don't forget to alert me if something's amiss." Lina bundled up in her warmest clothing, picked up her pack, tightly gripping 2 tiny but thick scrolls in 1 hand and a kunai in the other, just in case, and walked out of the cave. After adjusting to the light, she found herself about 3 kilometers away from what seemed to be a small village, and about 2 stories up from ground level. Concentrating chakra into her feet, she starting running/skidding down the side of the mountain, Daisuke keeping pace at her side.

Once on the ground, Lina slowly unfurled a giant well-worn map of the country with a side that was connected to Fire Country.

"So, where are you off to? Not that I care." Dai-chan said nonchalantly.

Absentmindedly scratching his ears and stomach, Lina said "I think it's about time I went home, don't you? It's been...what? 12 years? I'll bet so much has changed. I was still such a kid when I left, but maybe if I go home now they'll see how much I've changed. I miss it, you know. The leaves blowing in the wind, the sakura blossoms flying. No matter how much I travel, no matter how many places I've seen that are unimaginably beautiful, Konoha will always be number 1."

"Yeah, it's great. But wait! You didn't tell me why you were in the cave to begin with! Don't think I forgot, eh?"

"My my, was my little Dai-chan worried about me? And to think I thought you didn't care! How sweet." Lina teased, knowing full well that, while it was true that Daisuke did worry, he would never admit to it.

"Oh shut it. I wasn't worried, I just like to know what's going on, that's all."

Shhhhzzzzp. The map recurled when Lina let go of its ends and she stored it in her backpack. "Hmm...where to begin? Well, after I was in Ame, I travelled through Earth country and found a lovely little village called The Village of Flowers. It was really very beautiful. I've never seen so many different flowers in bloom, and the people were so sweet, just like honey. Honestly, I would have loved to have stayed there a little longer, but after a couple of days I just got this really bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, you know, the one I get that tells me I should go? Well, I got it, and so I packed up and left the next day.

And after that...hmm...well I just kept travelling, until a couple of days ago I arrived in Snow country. I was buying some warmer clothes and there happened to be a robbery in the next store, so I obviously had to help. Unluckily there were 5 shinobi, so immediately I knew it wasn't a typical robbery, but what could I do, you know? Anyway, I knocked out 2 of them, but the other 3 surrounded me and somehow I got knocked out. Next thing I know, I'm in that cave and there's some random guy treating me and feeding me and just being there for me. I never got to see his face too well, and he drugged me asleep before he left, so I don't know anything about him. But yeah, that's pretty much all of it. See? Nothing worth mentioning."

"...nothing worth mentioning...REALLY?! You were knocked out, taken to a cave and treated by some random stranger, and it's NOTHING WORTH MENTIONING?! What if you were raped? WHAT IF YOU WERE KILLED?! my heart can't take this...of all humans I've made a contract with, you are by far the stupidest. And here I thought you'd grown up a tad in the last 12 years, but No! You baka!"

Lina started laughing "Hahahaaaa! I knew you cared! But really, it's nothing. I'm fine."

"It's NOT nothing! And by the way, you baka-" here Dai-chan earned a glare from Lina for calling her a baka twice in a row "-what's this crap about that feeling you get in the pit of your stomach? You can't leave every time you get a bad 'feeling', you have to face it!"

"You know what happens every time I stay. Someone I care about gets hurt. Remember when I left Konoha? Or have you forgotten how Hanaki-chan and Aoi-chan died because I got caught in a genjutsu and they were surrounded by shinobi and evicerated in seconds? Or how Sou-" Lina paused "died...".

Quietly, Daisuke murmured "Souta-kun knew what he was doing. He was a strong shinobi, and it was not your fault that he was taken. I know you blame yourself because you two henged into each other, but that's not your fault. Yes, it's a terrible thing that he was tortured but-"

"Stop. Just...stop." Silence fell on the two companions as they neared the village that had been seen from the cave. After some time, "Why now?" Daisuke ventured.

"It's time I went home. 12 years, that's long enough. I have travelled and seen so many things in that time. I'm stronger now than I was then, I can protect those I love now. Even if I haven't acted like one for the last decade, I am still a Konoha shinobi, and it is my duty to protect Konoha."

They walked in silence again, finally entering the village. Lina, having changed into warmer clothing, didn't look at all like a shinobi. In fact, if one had to guess at first glance, any stranger would have thought nothing of the young girl walking with her dog. To the average person, Lina looked like nothing special. Medium length hair, slightly and thick, black as night, that fell down her back and rested on her cheekbones in the front, framing her child-like face, with small almond shaped blackish brown eyes, an average nose and mouth. She was short in stature, with a small chest that seemed larger due to her slight body, and an average waist that was hidden under the layers of her clothing. She looked not much older than 15, and that was only because her chest seemed so much larger. With a flat chest, she would have seemed no older than 12. More than once, Lina had become thankful for her small proportions, making fights easier when enemies underestimated her abilities.

Being a weapons expert and having a natural affinity for creating tsunamis and other water-based catastrophes due to her clan affiliation, Lina was often targeted when placed on missions. However, because of her rigid training and perseverance, she had mastered her ability fully by the age of 14. Therefore, it was never a question whether she should go on missions, as Lina had proven herself more than once on missions that otherwise would have been disasterous.

Of course, this advantage in the battlefield had been a disadvantage in life. Never having a boyfriend, it wasn't until she was 17 that she met Souta, a boy her age who loved her for her. They had gone out on dates, went to festivals together, and been all around adorable. He had taken her first kiss, and then showed her more passionate ones, teaching her the inner workings of being a couple. They had been so happy, something Lina had not experienced since her two same-age teammates had died in battle a year before. And then one day, on a mission for Konoha that was supposed to only be recon, she found herself battling 10 jonin-level enemies with Sou-kun at her side.

At the time, both were only chuunin, and the jonin had overwhelmed them easily. Unfortunately, Souta and Lina had henged into each other, since the possibility of a kidnapping plot for Lina was always present. At first, Lina had nearly bitten Souta's head off for even suggesting it, but Sou was adamant. Besides, he had reasoned, this was just a recon mission. Nothing's going to happen. And that's when Lina got a familiarly awful feeling in the pit of her stomach. Trying to persuade Sou to change back, they had been in the midst of an argument when the enemies had invaded camp. Almost immediately, Souta was restrained and taken away, and Lina was knocked out. After making her way back to the village, she was hospitalized for the severe damage the jonin had inflicted on her, and was ordered to remain in the village while search party after search party left looking for Souta. He was found a week later, dead, almost unrecognizable from the torture he had endured. He had been 17, Lina's first love, and he had died because she hadn't fought him enough to change back into himself.

Instantaneously, she withdrew from everyone around her. 1 month, 2 months, 5 months passed. Nothing could bring her back from the darkness, and finally, she asked for a long-term vacation allowing her to leave the village for a year. The Hokage, Sandaime at the time, had allowed it, his heart hurting for the shell that was once a vibrant young girl. And so she left. But after her year was up, she had fled and disappeared, not leaving a trace for any ANBU that might try to find her.

And from then on, she had been on the run, for 11 years. At first, it had been hard, with her missing home every single day, yet also knowing she couldn't go back just yet. 1 year turned into 2, and then 10, and now 12 including her year off. Finally, now she felt that it was time to go back. But would she be welcomed? Would the Godaime understand her reasons for fleeing? Yes, she had heard that the Sandaime had died, and now the legendary Tsunade-hime was the Godaime. What would the Godaime say once she heard her story...IF she heard her story? There was no reason to even assume that she would be heard, considering she was probably now a missing-nin. She could not expect the Godaime to simply forget her treason. In fact, maybe it was better that she didn't go back. Lina, having now walked to the middle of the village, abruptly stopped and thought of not returning. But no, she couldn't not go home. '_No matter what, it's still my home_.' she thought. _'I have no one to blame but myself if I get sent to prison, because I DID leave. Oh God, I hope I don't go to prison...'_

"Hey, why'd you stop?"

"Nevermind, Dai-chan. Let's just keep going."

liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

About 3 weeks later...

Sigh _'Finally, Suna. I guess I'll rest here for a couple of days and then I'll go home. Home...I can't believe I'm so close. It should only take a few days to get there.' _Arriving at a local inn, Lina plastered a fake smile on her face and cheerily said "Hi, 1 room please."

The fat greasy-haired man glanced up and then did a double take. "I'm not giving a room to you. Bring your mom over and I'll give it to her."

Sigh. "You sir, are an idiot. I'm not a child. I'll have you know that despite how I look, I'm am nearly-well ok you don't need to know how old I am, but I'm an adult. Now see here. If you're worried you're gonna get swindled, I'll pay upfront. Now, I'm exhausted, and I want a room. Are you gonna give it up or not? And don't think about trying to swindle ME. I know how much a room costs, and you better not try anything fishy."

"Hmph. Fine, room 11, here's the key. And next time you might not want to call people idiots when you need something from them."

"Call 'em as I see 'em. Good night." Lina made her way to her room, opened the door, and scrunched her nose in detest as she scrutinized her 'room', which was really not much more than a closet. But after living off the land for a couple of weeks, she was just happy to have a bed under her when she collapsed, even though it seemed as if it might have bedbugs.

The next day, as she walked around Suna, admiring all the changes that had occured since her last visit, she heard a familiar female voice. "Lina nee-san?" Turning around, she found herself face to face with none other than Kankuro and Temari, the two older siblings of the Kazekage Gaara (although she didn't know that at the time). She hadn't seen them in so long. She had travelled to Suna on missions to babysit them before, but she hadn't seen them since she left that she almost didn't recognize them. Oh, of all the luck. And here she'd been thinking she'd be able to remain undetected for a few days, but alas fate had other plans. Before she could get a word in, the two older siblings grabbed her arms and dragged/manhandled her towards the Kazekage building, all the while with Lina digging her heels in to try and stop the inevitable. "You're taking me to see the Kazekage? You're dad's gonna kill me!" "Our father's dead. The new Kazekage is our little brother Gaara." said Temari in a stern voice. "Wait, you have a brother? Wait, your father's dead? Hey-HEY WAIT! STOP!"

Once in the building, the two siblings knocked on the Kazekage office, opened the doors, and unceremoniously dumped her in a chair seated directly in front of the Kazekage desk without so much as an 'Enter' from Gaara himself. Slowly looking up while crouching as low as possible in the chair, Lina's eyes met Gaara's unblinking stare, and immediately fell down to her hands, which were fidgeting on her lap. She had never been in the presence of the Kazekage when not on a babysitting mission, and since this was a new Kazekage, she was unsure of how to conduct herself.

After a loooooong moment of silence, only broken with the siblings leaving the office, Gaara asked "Why are you here." Well ok, it wasn't so much a question the way he said it, but she knew he meant it as such. If the question had come from anyone else, she would have jokingly said "Oh well, you know how much I love Suna! The sand, the people, I just thought it would be a nice place for a vacation." but the intensity of Gaara's stare told her that she should told the truth. Slowly recounting her 'adventures' over the last 12 years, she never once looked up from her hands, feeling Gaara's stare on her like a pair of knives to her head. When she was done, she fell silent, waiting for Gaara's verdict. Would he tell the Hokage on her? Would he leave her be? And then a sudden thought popped into her head. What if she had been labelled a missing-nin? She hadn't heard anything like that in her travels, but anything was possible, considering how often she'd moved around and how far she'd gone. What if she was a missing-nin, and there was a bounty on her head? But as soon as the idea came, she dismissed it. While Gaara was the Kazekage, if he was anything like his siblings he wouldn't rat her out that easily. True, he seemed much more intense than them (I mean, come on. Those dark circles under his eyes were just begging for some sleep.) Oh, if only she'd known how he had been before Naruto's intervention. But no, she had no clue and would remain clueless for a little while longer.

Eventually, after it seemed that Gaara had determined that Lina was telling the truth, he slowly said "I'm not going to tell the Hokage about you being here, on one condition."

"And what might that be, Kazekage-sama?"

"You leave Suna. Tonight."

"T-tonight? Erm...can't I stay 1 more night?"

"No. I want you out of here, and on your way to Konoha tonight, or I will inform the Hokage that you trespassed into Suna."*** The intensity of Gaara's stare bore into Lina's eyes when she finally looked up in shock. How could someone so harsh be related to sweet little Tema- and Kanku-chan? Instantly Lina looked back down and silently nodded her head. "Good, then you can go pack now." With that Lina stood up to bow and leave the office, her heart dropping with each step until it felt like it was in her stomach. On one hand she was glad to be going home, but on the other, she was scared of what she might find when she got there. Suna had changed so much since her last visit, and it wasn't even her home! What would she find when she finally reached her destination?

-end-

liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

**I have no idea where Snow country is on the map of Naruto verse, I couldn't find it, but yeah. I'm imagining it somewhere around Frost Country and Lightning Country on this map:  . 

***I have plans for Gaara, so him being mean has a reason


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own naruto.

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: Sasuke is back, but the Pain arc is still going to happen, as is the rest of the stuff not involving Sasuke. I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?) So basically, this is set in the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime (eps 144-151). Enjoy!

liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

Chapter 2

_**1 day later, in the Hidden Valley Village in River Country (look up Naruto map for reference)**_

Lina sat in a curry shop, curiously named Curry of Life, waiting patiently for her medium-spicy curry while looking out the window at a heavy downpour of rain. The shop had come highly recommended in the previous town she had come across, so rather than eat a hearty breakfast as usual, she saved her appetite for this supposed "Miracle Curry". Of course, now that her stomach was grumbling, she was anxiously awaiting her food, hoping that it would have big enough servings to fit her monsterous appetite. On a normal day, Lina could eat enough to give any member of the Akimichi clan of Konoha a run for their money, but today, being especially famished, she just hoped the shop didn't have too many more customers.

"Here's your curry dearie. Eat it while it's hot!" came an old granny with what looked to be her son standing behind her.

Looking down, Lina noticed an odd red tinge to the curry, and hastily said "This is medium-spicy right? I don't think I can handle anything too hot right now, considering I haven't eaten all day and it's not good for the stomach to eat such harsh foods."

"Not to worry, dearie, the Curry of Life, regardless of how spicy it is, will most definitely heal all your troubled parts and warm your soul." smiled the granny before walking away. The young man behind her came up to the table and sat down in front of Lina and watched her apprehensively dig into the curry. Needless to say, after the first bite, Lina was hollering at the top of her lungs about how delicious the food was. Laughing, the son (whose name was Karashi) told a story to pass the time, one where he had 'gotten lost on the path of life'*, and a group of five Konoha shinobi had saved him from nearly ruining his life by making the mistake of joining a gang. Listening intently, Lina shovelled food into her mouth, and repeatedly asked for extra servings. The few customers lingering in the shop stared as she gulped down the curry, wondering where on earth she stored it all in that tiny body of hers.

After the story had completed, and Lina was full, she was about to bid Karashi and his mother Sansho goodbye when a bell signalling new customers rang out.

"Karashi-san! Sansho-san! We're back for more curryyyyyyyy!" yelled out a boy with and odd bowl-shaped haircut, green jumpsuit that left little to the imagination, and orange leg warmers, walking in with 3 other people: a boy in a white shirt with loose sleeves, matching pants, with a dark navy grey apron tied around his waist and black shinobi sandals, and really really long hair; a man who, depsite his silver-white hair and mask that concealed most of his face, looked around her age; and a girl who looked an awful lot like- "TenTen?!"

Said girl turned around at the sound of her name and gawked at Lina. For a few seconds neither spoke, the only sound heard being that of the bowl-haircut boy talking animatedly to Sansho obaa-san. Then, in a flurry of motion, the two girls (Lina and Tenten) ran towards each other and gripped each other in a tight hug. At this point, the long-haired boy and masked man had turned around to look curiously at the two who apparently knew each other somehow. "Lina onee-chan, what are you doing here?! Where have you been? How are you? Oh my Kami you look so different. How long has it been? Lee, Neji, look!"

"What is it, our dear flower of the supreme Team Gai? Have you found a kindred spirit in this young delightful lady? Oh do please introduce us, we would love to get to know this splendid specimen of a girl-OW!" the green jumpsuit boy exclaimed, holding his head, where a rather large lump had begun to form.

"Stop it Lee, you'll scare Lina onee-chan. Nee-chan, this baka is Lee, and the other one is Neji, they're my teammates now. Can you believe it? I'm a shinobi, just like you! Oh and guess what my specialty is? WEAPONS! They call me the Weapons Mistress back home." Tenten proudly proclaimed. Strangely, she forgot to mention who the silver wolf was.

"You're a what?! Shinobi, how could you be a shinobi! Last time I saw you, you were only 5! Look at you, all grown up. Makes me so proud to have been the one to have first taught you how to throw a shuriken. *Sigh* You're a weapons mistress eh? Well, I guess we'll have to spar some time, just to see how good you've gotten. But you know, I won't go easy on you!"

"And I wouldn't have it any other way. So what are you doing here? Where have you been? It's been almost a decade and a half since I last saw you, what happened? I knew you were busy before, you told me as much on that last day, but I expected to hear SOMETHING about you once I turned genin or even chuunin. How come I haven't seen you in town at all?"

"Oh...I had to...erm...take some time off. I was on leave for a while...among other things." Lina trailed off, hoping Tenten would leave it alone. She could feel the heated stare coming from the masked man, even though his eyes seemed lazy and disinterested. But no, Tenten was too excited to have found her childhood friend to let things go. Motioning Lina to sit back down, the group sat at the table and began to eat curry, Lee eating a rather fuschia colored one that made his face turn the exact shade, and the rest eating a much milder version while Tenten babbled on and on about her journeys. But before she could get too far into the details- *cough cough* Lina cleared her throat and asked jokingly, "Tenten, are you going to tell me who the last person in your group is, or am I going to need to do it?"

"Wha-ohhh Kakashi-san! Right, nee-chan, this is Hatake Kakashi, also know as the Copy-nin, Sharingan no Kakashi. He's not normally our team leader, but Gai-sensei was down with the flu. Everyone, this is Sasaki Lina."

"Hmph. It's his own fault for running in the rain for 2 hours. What kind of stupid competition is that, running around Konoha as many times as possible in the mud?" muttered the until-now silent Neji. _'Oooh, he speaks!' _thought Lina inwardly.

"Neji! How can you be so disrespectful of Gai-sensei! He was absolutely brilliant in thinking of running in the rain, one needs to always be prepared for such situatio-OW!" yelled out Lee as Tenten bonked him on the head for the second time, leading to a lump forming on the first one. _'One more lump and he'll look like he has a snow man on his head!'_ chuckled Lina to herself before turning to the silver-haired masked man who had until now remained quiet and observant.

"Konichiwa, Hatake-san. I have heard much about you in my travels, your reputation certainly precedes you." extending her hand, Lina waited for Kakashi to reply. After a moment of silence, the man uncrossed his arms and shook her hand with his own, indicating a smile with a half-moon shaped eye crease, and said "Konichiwa, Sasaki-san. And please, it's Kakashi. Hatake-san was my father."

Slightly rattled by the beautiful baritone voice that come from behind the mask, Lina took a moment to compose herself before saying "Kakashi-san, then. And likewise, please call me Lina" before turning to Tenten. "Tenten, you said that your original team leader is 'Gai-sensei', do you mean Maito Gai?"

"Nee-chan, you know Gai-sensei? How?" at this both Lee and Neji looked up, the first wide eyed and interested while the second merely looked suspicious for some reason.

"Gai was a senpai of mine back in the Academy. We used to hang out quite a bit before we graduated and went our separate ways."

"Nooo waaaay! You hung out with GAI-SENSEI?! But he's so...so...WEIRD! And YOU'RE so..so...COOL! How on earth did you guys end up hanging out?!" exclaimed Tenten, with Neji and Kakashi staring at Lina in shock.

"Hey hey, that's your sensei you're talking about! I take it he still wears the same green jumpsuit and orange legwarmers, and still has a bowl haircut, eh? Some things never change. But regardless of how 'uncool' he looked, you know I was never one to judge based on appearance. Remember the first day we met? And also, Gai was a really good friend to me. He was always there for me when I was upset, and even if he was slightly...flamboyant, he always meant well. That's all you can ever ask in a friend, right?" Lina defended. _'Boy, that Lee fellow really took after his sensei, they could be twins!'_

"Hmm...I guess you're right, but still, it's shocking to find out that one of the coolest people I know and the...well...weirdest were actually friends. But you were JUST friends right? Nothing more? I don't think I'd be able to handle it if you were more."

"Tenten! My my, you really have grown up haven't you? What happened to boys having cooties?" joked Lina

"Nee-chaaan! I'm not 5 anymore, I'm 18 dammit!" protested Tenten, blushing, with Neji smirking. He had seemed slightly overprotective of his female teammate, and with Lina's female intuition senses tingling, she accurately guessed that they were an item.

After some more teasing and bantering, the group finished their food and started walking out of the Curry of Life shop, waving goodbye to Sansho obaa-san and Karashi-san. At the end of the porch, Lina turned to Team Gai, ready to say goobye to them as well. But before she could get a word in, Tenten had launched herself at her, saying "Lina onee-chan, I'm so glad I got to see you again after all this time. When are you coming home? Do you think you'll be staying for a while, if not forever? I really did miss you, and I'm sure Hinata did too. You remember her right? Oh, speaking of Hinata, she's changed so much since you last saw her, I really hope you can come by and see her. Please?"

"Hey hey, Tenten, calm down! I'm actually on my way home. It's so strange, calling it home even though I haven't been back in so long." Lina detached herself from the pouting girl. "But yes, I will hopefully be staying longterm, but we'll see ok? I can't wait to see HInata too. Anyhow, I'm going to go and head out first. You four have a safe trip and be careful!" waving while shouting as she walked further away from the group, she nearly tripped on a stray rock, luckily righting her self just in time while scratching the back of her neck sheepishly. After one last wave she turned around and walked away.

No more than 10 minutes after she had departed, she felt a presence behind her. Arming herself, she whipped around, only to find Hatake Kakashi walking several metres away from her. _'How did I not notice him sooner?_ Lina wondered. _'He's as silent as a cat.'_

"Kakashi-san, what can I do for you?" still gripping the kunai in her hand just in case, Lina watched warily as the man lazily walked his way up to her.

"There's something I wanted to clarify before I left you, Lina-san."

"Oh, and what would that be?" Lina reluctantly asked.

"You and Tenten talk like you've known each other for a long time. From what I can surmise, you were a childhood friend to her? What happened that made you two lose contact?"

"When she was 5, I found that I had some things I had to deal with, and I told her I couldn't be around her as much. A year later, I left the village for personal reasons and haven't been back since. That answer your questions?"

"Well yes, but-" "Good, then if you don't mind, I have places to be. Well, more accurately, one place to get to. It's getting late. You should go back to Team Gai, you don't want to keep them waiting." Lina said casually.

liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

Kakashi stood still for a moment, waiting for her to turn back at him, but when she didn't he turned around and made his way towards the camp that had been set up by Team Gai. Plopping himself down beside Tenten, who was cleaning and sharpening her weapons, he tried to seem casual when asking "Tenten, how did you say you know Lina-san?" This suspicious question, while left unnoticed by Lee and Tenten, led to a smirk being formed in the corner of Neji's mouth. _'Kakashi actually asking about another person, rather than being stealthy and figuring it out on his own? And more importantly, that person is a girl. Hmm...maybe reading all that porn has finally come to good use. Kami knows he hasn't had a girlfriend or a date in...well forever. Hmm, what's Tenten saying?'_

"Well, Kakashi-sensei, I met nee-chan when I was around 3. She was hmm...14 at the time? I was playing on the slide in that giant playground in the middle of Konoha park** when my parents lost sight of me. I didn't even know they were looking for me, I was too busy having fun. They called and called, and and it was nee-chan that found me on one of the lesser-used slides. I don't remember much, just her bright smile when she looked down at me, and then my parents' relieved faces when they saw me. She stayed for dinner with us, and we became friends. She would babysit me for my parents while they went out to get groceries and stuff, since she was only a genin at the time and had quite a bit of spare time. Those counted as missions to her! She played with me, and when in that last year when I was 5, she started teaching me how to throw kunai. I wasn't very good at first, but she promised that after some practice I'd get better. But then she got busy and was unable to play with me anymore, and then all of the sudden she disappeared. I missed her quite a bit, but evenfually I kind of forgot about her, and sometimes would wonder if I'd just imagined it all. Anyhow, that's how I know Lina-nee-chan, Kakashi-san." Tenten ended her story, her mind in the past while absentmindedly finishing cleaning her weapons.

Suddenly she yelped "Ow!" and looked down, seeing blood coming out of her left hand's fingertips. Neji rushed over and looked at the wound, then up at Tenten. "What were you doing? How could you be so careless? Let me see. Hmm, it doesn't look like it's cut too deeply. I think just some normal first aid will suffice, but honestly, Tenten, you should be more careful wih your own weapons. You get distracted much too easily." Neji fussed over Tenten, her face blazing red at his ministrations while Kakashi peered out from inside his worn copy of Icha Icha paradise. Lee was fast asleep, snoring away like a skinny panda.***

liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

_At the same time..._

Lina trudged on for a few more miles before deciding to camp out in a clearing that had good visibility. Hatake Kakashi's voice seemed to be drilling a hole in her brain, insistently nagging at her to not forget his deep silky voice. _'Oh Kami, what am I thinking? He's just a man, like all other men I've encountered. Get over yourself. You haven't gotten laid in a while, that's YOUR problem! Once we reach Konoha, if the Hokage is fine with everything, then you're going to go to a bar and seduce the first man you see. No excuses, a woman has needs!'_ With that being her last thought, Lina lightly fell asleep, dreaming of silver-haired wolves and beautifully pale male models.

-end-

liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

*lol like my reference to Kakashi there? :P oh btw, if you dont get which story i'm talking about, I'm talking about the special where Lee, Tenten, and Neji save Karashi and bring him back from Raiga in the anime (arc from 152 to 157)

**ok so I made that park up. think of something between an amusement park and a school playground, and you've got around the right size I was looking for.

***I don't know why i called Lee a panda haha


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own naruto.

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: Sasuke is back, but the Pain arc is still going to happen, as is the rest of the stuff not involving Sasuke. I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?) So basically, this is set in the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime (eps 144-151). Enjoy!

liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

Chapter 3

Several kilometers away from the Konoha gates, Lina trudged along the dirt road, not bothering to hide her presence. Having lived in the village and explored the forest surrounding it from the time she could walk, she was familiar with all the hunting traps that Konoha had laid, even after 12 years of being apart. _'I suppose it's like learning to swim. You never really forget._' Lina mused. Now that she was in near Konoha, and it was such a beautiful afternoon, she had shed her warmer clothing that she'd bought in Snow country and opted for her usual attire. Dressed in a beige asymmetrical dress that was cut from halfway down the right thigh to just above the ankle on the left side, embroidered around the edges in peach lilies, her right arm hung sleeveless on her side, the dress attached to her by a thick peach strap that matched the lilies, and her left arm was wrapped in an equally peach sleeve that extended past her wrist to the halfway point of her palm. To any normal person, and to the inexperienced shinobi, she would have looked vulnerable, which she loved to play up (at least for now) with her minimal makeup and natural appearance.

Suddenly, she felt a presence to her left. Then another to her right, 3 more quickly gaining up to her from behind, and it seemed like 3 more had appeared ahead of her. _'How did I not notice them? Must be strong ninja._' Not losing momentum in her walking speed, she casually grazed her right hand against her right thigh, seemingly to scratch it to an outsider's eye, but actually unzipping a hidden compartment in her dress that held 2 tiny weapon scrolls. In a flash, she pulled one out, hiding it in the palm of her hand using her thumb for support, and continued walking like nothing had happened. Running through battle strategies and possible jutsus that would work against various elemental affinities, her heart quickened at the thought of a battle so near to her home. Hopefully it would end quickly, as she didn't relish the idea of fighting a long battle when she had exhausted about a quarter of her energy already. With 8 enemies, the best way would be to end things quickly. But things never ended her way, did they?

Out of nowhere, the 8 presences she'd noticed jumped out of the forest and surrounded her, kunai at the ready. From the forehead protectors, she could see that they were Iwa ninja. She stopped and stood casually, asking "What can I do for you?"

"You can let us kill you." came a gruff voice from behind her to the right. She turned to the speaker and scrutinized him.

"Really? Is that all? Well, I hate to disappoint, but I'm afraid I have an important appointment, and I can't let you kill me." Lina said sweetly.

"Shut up! Let's just kill her!" "Mmm" came voices from the rest of the group around her.

"Quiet! Don't you know who we're dealing with? This is Sasaki Lina, wielder of a thousand weapons and user of the Sasaki Kekkei Genkai of Konoha-"

"My my, you know quite a bit about me, huh? I wonder how, considering I'm only a chunin, and I've been away from the village for so long. I'm truly flattered. But question: Don't you know that the most important rule of the shinobi is to suprise your opponent? All of you standing in front of me...it seems like your underestimating me...ne?"

"Hmph. Captain, you sure it's the right person? This little girl looks like she should be playing with dolls or going to tea parties!" came the high pitched voice of what sounded like an ignorant little genin. Turning to face the sound, she noticed that this person was slightly smaller, more slight, and had boyish features. His face twisted in contempt, he looked more like a young child pretending to be an adult, than a jonin that he was, as signified by his uniform and vest.

Gliding over, Lina laced honey in her voice and said "Oh sweetie, you really shouldn't underestimate me. What's the saying? Good things come in small packages? And believe me, I can show you some unbelievably good things. Things that would turn your world upside down." She kept walking towards the boy, entrancing him with her voice, until she stood nose to neck with him.

Now, the rest of the group was silent, watching her and waiting for her to make her move. The boy stood trembling, looking down at her face, as she slowly drifted her left hand up his body towards his face, caressing his smooth skin that revealed his true age and innocence. Remembering that her right hand still held the weapon scroll, thankfully unnoticed by the shinobi, she let it remain at her side. Finally, after making her captive tremble for a good few minutes, she swiftly went up behind him and said quietly, "So sad, I hate hurting young boys. Especially one as beautiful as you." And that, she pressed a pressure point on the boy's neck and he went limp, at the same time initiating a fight with with the rest of the shinobi, who seemed to have been released from their trance at the sight of one of their own fainting in front of their eyes.

Battle cries ringing out in the clear air, 5 of the 7 remaining charged her with various kunai and weapons, which she deflected easily, attacking with her now unfurled scroll. Twisting and turning like a ballerina, she rose from the ground, one foot pointing directly down with the other extended behind her perpendicular from her body, her back straight and proud as she continued to unroll her scroll. Shooting kunai and shuriken down to the enemies, she saw that she had taken down 3 more. Noticing that 2 of the shinobi had stayed behind the others, she guessed that they must have created some plan ahead of time. Deciding to take those 2 out first in case anything particularly hairy happened, she stopped spinning, still in mid air, and made a series of hand seals and yelled out Water style: Suffocating Wave Jutsu!

Releasing water from her left hand, she let out a giant wave of water that collapsed on the 2 shinobi and held the water on top of them, effectivly suffocating them. The 3 remaining shinobi started to back off slowly, fear in their eyes at the sudden power eminating from the small girl's form in front of their eyes. Releasing the water jutsu due to chakra depletion, Lina dropped her hands, her scroll now half empty, and panted, trying to catch her breath. She knew that she wouldn't make it if she tried to use up both the scroll in her hand and the other one in her pocket, AND tried to use another water jutsu. _'Maybe if I summon Dai-chan? Our combination is pretty solid. But...if I were to do that I'd be completely out of chakra, and while it is good, our aim could use work. So that's out...'_

While contemplating her options, she felt rather than saw 4 chakra signatures materialize beside her. Turning, she smiled as she saw Team Gai (and Kakashi-san) standing beside her, fighting stances and all. "Hey guys. What are you doing here? I thought you were on a mission."

"Nee-chan, what's going on? Why are these Iwa shinobi attacking you?"

"I'm guessing cuz they are trying to get my Kekkei Genkai. Nothing new."

"Lina-san! Oh beautiful spirited blossom of Konoha whom I just met! Fear not! We'll protect you! But...you could have left a few more for us!" Lee exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Haha, thanks Lee-san. Well, next time I know you're going to help, I'll be sure to leave some more for you, ok? Neji-san, Kakashi-san, good to see you." Lina said sheepishly.

"Hmm."

"Yo."

_'Wow, don't talk much, eh?' _Lina mused. With the pleasantries over with, the group turned to face the remaining shinobi, who seemed to be in a heated argument over whether they should stay and fight or run and hide. One of the previously suffocated shinobi had been revived, and the boy Lina had knocked out in the beginning was beginning to come to.

Before the Iwa shinobi could continue much further, they were interrupted by a silky voice "It's too late for you to run. You targeted one of Konoha's finest shinobi, don't think we'll let you get away with it!" The sound of a thousand birds chirping filled the air as blue lightning chakra sprouted out of Kakashi's hand. "Chidori!" Kakashi sprinted towards the jonin, but they were too fast for him, with him only able to graze the shoulder of one.

"Yeah! I, Konoha's Beautiful Wild Beast, Rock Lee, will never allow a fellow Konoha shinobi, especially a kunoichi, be harmed by the likes of you fiends!" Lee shouted as he raced to enter the fight, yelling something about a Dynamic Entry. Of course, Neji, silent as ever, entered the battle, releasing the infamous Hyuuga Jyuuken. Meanwhile, Tenten took out a giant scroll and released her Manipulated Tools: Heavenly Chain of Destruction jutsu, raining weapons down on the back of the group.

As weapons clashed, jutsu cries echoed, and blood was spilled, Lina looked on in awe at her fellow shinobi fighting beautifully in front of her. From the corner of her eye, she noticed a single shinobi that was readying himself to enter the battle. Without thinking, she formed the necessary hand signs and let out a stream of water than enveloped the man, forming an impenetrable bubble around him. With one hand out steadying her jutsu, she ran towards him while forming a one handed seal and said "Sonic Doom Jutsu!" Reaching him, she placed her mouth at the wall of the water she'd formed and screamed against it, expertly breaking the poor shinobi's eardrums, killing him.

When she finished, she released the water bubble, and collapsed into Neji's, who had somehow finished his own battle and materialized just in time. Laying her down gently, she found herself surrounded by all of them, worried expressions on the faces (at least the ones she could see) as they asked if she was ok. Seeing that everyone was alright, she allowed the darkness to fill her as her eyelids drooped, exhausted from using the last of her chakra.

liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

Tenten's POV

"Nee-chan! Nee-chan! Kakashi-sensei, what are we gonna do? Nee-chan, wake up!"

"Calm down, Tenten. She's just tired. I can still feel a pulse. But man, her chakra's pretty much gone, she needs to go to the hospital. Sakura needs to see her, now." Neji was using his Byakugan while saying this, and despite his voice normally calming me down, this time even he sounded worried.

"Give her to me, I'll carry her. Ready? Let's go." Kakashi-sensei picked Lina nee-chan up like she was a bride and jumped towards the gates. If she wasn't dying I would have been teasing her so much right now. _'Nee-chan, hang in there. We're almost at the gates, you can't give up yet!'_

End of Tenten's POV

liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

Kakashi's POV

"Nee-chan! Nee-chan! Kakashi-sensei, what are we gonna do? Nee-chan, wake up!" Tenten was yelling beside me, trying to shake Lina-san awake after watching her faint.

"Calm down, Tenten. She's just tired. I can still feel a pulse. But man, her chakra's pretty much gone, she needs to go to the hospital. Sakura needs to see her, now." Neji used his Byakugan while saying this, his voice worried too

_'Where did she learn that sound jutsu? I thought only those from the Sound Village with Orochimaru could use jutsus with sound. I'll have to ask her that when she wakes up. But first...'_

"Give her to me, I'll carry her. Ready? Let's go." I picked Lina-san up in the only way that doesn't require her own strength for support and jumped towards the gates. _'Don't give up. I still have a few questions I need answered by you.'_

End of Kakashi's POV

liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

Entering the gates, Kakashi left the rest of the group and rushed off to the hospital, not stopping to address the 'welcome home's he received on the way. He was a well-known shinobi to be sure, and while some of the well-wishers seemed put off, most of them noticed the girl in his arms and realized the urgency of his departure.

Reaching the hospital, the one place in the whole village that he hated, Kakashi asked the receptionist where Shizune-san was. Thankfully, the girl knew who the famous Copy Ninja was and quickly dialed Shizune's pager and told him to bring the girl in his arms to a gurney. Laying her down, Kakashi finally noticed how tiny this girl really was. Slight, frail-looking, and pale from exhaustion, he was shocked that such power had come from this tiny person. Guessing that she was hardly 5', he felt like a giant in front of her.

Shaking his head inwardly, he answered the medic-nins' questions, anxiously waiting for Shizune-san to arrive. Until she did, he wouldn't be able to fully relax. After all, who better to treat someone with this much chakra loss than the Legendary Tsunade-sama's assistant? Of course, he would ask Sakura, but she was on a mission with Naruto, Sai, and Yamato. At this thought, Kakashi saw a flash of pink weave up down the hall and sighed in relief as he watched his fellow jonin examine Lina-san and take in all the information the medic-nins had gathered while her pig Tonton sniffed her and whined. Finally seeming to have consolidated the information given and created a treatment plan, Shizune rattled off some instructions to the medic-nins at hand and rushed them off to do her bidding. Turning to Kakashi, she motioned him to sit down.

"We need to keep her here for the night. I don't know if she'll be ok, considering the amount of chakra she lost, but if she makes it through the night she'll be fine. We need to fix her up a bit before you can see her, but I'll let you know when you can. Who is she, Kakashi-sensei?" Shizune-san asked inquiringly.

"She's apparently a fellow Konoha shinobi, at least according to Tenten. They supposedly knew each other a long time ago, but for whatever reason she left the village. She was attacked a few kilometers away from here by 8 Iwa shinobi. She took down 5 of them, but lost a lot of chakra, and then we happened to arrive. We fought them and she used up the rest of the chakra as backup. And that's pretty much it." Kakashi sighed and sat back, leaning into the seat.

Shizune contemplated his form, noticing how tired he seemed. She knew his original mission with Team Gai hadn't been a hard one, so there was no doubt that his lack of energy (aside from the usual laziness) was from his recent battle combined with his worry over the girl. She was definitely surprised to hear that the little girl had taken on 8 shinobi, but then again, looks could be deceiving. Just take Naruto: he looked like an idiot, loser who would never amount to anything. Yet he had proven himself time and again to be strong, an example being when they first met, when he had convinced Tsunade-sama to be Hokage.

She hoped the girl would make it through the night, if only so Shizune could get to know her better. Deciding to talk to the Hokage later to look up the girl's files, she looked at the time and commented that Kakashi could now see the patient. Telling him the room, she watched hiim walk off, with him trying not to look to eager yet still walking briskly. Shaking her head, she got back to work.

-end-

liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

haha, you guys expected me to make Lina fall into Kakashi's arms, eh? :P yeah, i was thinking of doing it, but I wanted something different. I didn't want her to go to Tenten, cuz that was another obvious choice, and Lee also seemed off, Neji was the only weird one left. Well, that's Chapter 3! I hope you liked it! :D Also, just for anyone who might be following the story, I will be posting chapter weekly, on Sundays at around...say 9 pm Eastern Time? That's Toronto time, for anyone who goes by that haha. But yeah, it'll probably be on before then, like say earlier in the day, but I'm making the deadline late just in case.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own naruto.

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Sasaki Lina is 29. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: Sasuke is back, but the Pain arc is still going to happen, as is the rest of the stuff not involving Sasuke (including Shinobi Alliance arc! can't wait to see how that turns out). I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?) So basically, this begins in the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime (eps 144-151). Enjoy!

liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

Chapter 4

Lina woke up several hours after Kakashi had brought her to the hospital. Opening her eyes, she only saw pitch black around her for a while before her eyes adjusted. Through the moonlight streaming in from the window in her room, she could make out a faint outline of a person sleeping in a chair beside her bed. She saw a faint glint of silver, but before she could see much more, a wave of drowsiness washed over her and she fell back asleep. The next day, Lina woke up to a nurse busying over her. Looking over to the chair that was beside her, she found it empty. _'Was it a dream?'_

"Sasaki-san, how are you feeling today? Any lightheadedness, nausea?" the nurse cheerily asked.

"I'm fine, just a little sleepy. Where am I?"

"You're in the Konoha Hospital. You gave us quite a shock when Hatake-san brought you in yesterday. You really should be more careful with your body, such a small girl shouldn't use up her energy so quickly. What would your parents say?"

"Hatake...-san?" Lina ignored the rest of the speech and focused on the one thing that made her heart twist.

"Oh yes. Hatake-san ran into the hospital yelling for Shizune-sama to heal you. He seemed quite worried. In fact, he was here all last night, sitting in that very chair! He just left about an hour ago, but he said he'd be back later." the nurse informed Lina while adjusting the blankets around her.

A soft knock on the door revealed a fair-skinned woman of average height and slender build with black eyes and straight shoulder-length hair. "I see you've woken up. My name is Shizune, I'm a medic-nin. How are you feeling?" Shizune asked Lina.

"I'm doing fine, thank you for treating me so kindly without knowing who I am." Lina said gratefully.

"Well, Kakashi-san did look worried. In fact, he should be here in a couple of minutes, I saw him downstairs. Why don't we wait so that we can all talk? There are a couple of things I'd like to ask you, and I'm sure Kakashi-san has some questions as well." With that, the two ladies sat in silence. Thankfully, the silence was short, as Kakashi walked right into the room holding a beautiful red and white carnation wrapped in plastic*. Seeing Lina awake, he visibly relaxed, placing the flower in a vase next to the bed and coming around to sit on his original seat.

"I see you're feeling better. I guess I wasn't needed after all." Kakashi spoke aloofly yet not unkindly. He nodded to Shizune and looked at Lina.

"Hey, Kakashi-san. I heard you berated the nurses to give me the best care huh? I'm surprised you worried so much." Lina teased, obviously thinking she was exaggerating the facts, when in actuality she wasn't. For a moment, Kakashi looked shocked (_'Did Shizune tell her that?'_), but quickly composed himself. "Hn. Well, looks like you're all good here. Guess I can go now." He turned to leave.

"Hang on, Kakashi-san. I would like you to stay while I ask her some questions." Shizune spoke.

Kakashi sat back down and pulled out his Icha Icha book (to which Lina raised an eyebrow) as Shizune began asking/interviewing/interrogating Lina about who she was, why she had been gone so long, how long she was planning to stay, etc. Reluctant to give out the full details, Lina only told the basic outline of her story, leaving out the details regarding Souta, Hanaki, Aoi, and the scene at the cave. As more questions came, Kakashi put down his book, and listened in interest. Obviously, as an ex-ANBU, he knew that Lina was hiding something, but figured that she wasn't about to tell them anything in such a public environment. _'That's fine. She'll tell the Hokage. No one can keep anything a secret from that woman.'_

"So let me get this straight: You are a chunin who left Konoha 12 years ago, supposedly on leave for a year and then fled, travelling across the 5 nations? How on earth is that possible? You're a chunin! It's unheard of that a chunin could survive so long out there. You're name is Sasaki, so you have the Kekkei Genkai to control water-based disasters, so of course you're strong but still! Oh, just wait till Tsunade-sama hears about this, she's going to freak! The last of the Sasaki Clan is actually alive!" Shizune murmured the last part of her speech to herself, not realizing that Lina had no idea what she was talking about. Hearing this, Lina swiveled her head and gaped.

"What? The last of the Sasaki clan...what are you talk about?! Kakashi-san, what's she talking about? My family was the last of the Sasaki clan. My parents, my sister and brother, my grandparents, what happened?!" Lina started shaking, and Shizune and Kakashi had to hold her down as she started convulsing.

"Calm down, breathe! Damn it, she's losing herself, we need a sedative, now!" Shizune yelled for a medic to plunge a large needle into Lina's leg. Instantly, she relaxed and sank into the bed, sound alseep. Shizune sighed. "I wish I didn't have to do that, especially after she'd just woken up. But I guess it can't be helped. She's going to be restrained until we can get Ibiki and Inoichi down here to check her out."

"Wait, what? You're going to let that sadist interrogate her? Isn't that a little harsh? Look at her, she's just traumatized cuz you told her her family's dead. Well, you didn't actually tell her that, but from an outsider's perspective that's what it sounded like, no wonder she went nuts." Kakashi protested, knowing that Morino Ibiki would have quite a bit of enjoyment torturing the girl, and despite her power in battle, he wasn't sure she'd be able to handle the psychological trauma.

"Hey, I'm not saying they're going to interrogate her like a criminal! But they ARE our best intelligence gathering jonin, and Ibiki is also very good as a psychologist, so don't you think him checking her out to make sure she's stable is a good idea? I mean, if she needs therapy, he'd be the one to administer it anyway." Shizune defended.

"No. No Ibiki, and no Inoichi. I have nothing against either of them in battle, but Kami knows that they're methods are far too rough for a girl, especially one in her situation." Kakashi stood his ground, unwavering as Shizune scrunched her eyebrows in thought. "What?"

"Well, I'm just thinking. Why are you being so protective of this girl? You don't know her. And even if you claim that it's for Tenten's sake, which I doubt you would, you normally aren't even remotely close to being this agitated. Aren't you the one who's known for being stealthy and staying in the background? Aren't you the one who prefers to watch things play out rather than actually do something? Aren't you the one who always listens and talks later? What's different now? Is it the girl?"

"Fine fine, I get it, I'm the one! I just...I just don't want to see a beautiful flower go to waste. You know much I appreciate beautiful women. She may not look like much now, but you should have seen her in battle. She was amazing. I don't want that to disappear because we thought we needed to interrogate her for no reasion."

"Whatever. Wait, hang on. How old is she?" Shizune looked down at the girl. "What, 16? Kakashi, you pervert! Don't go getting any ideas in that giant sick brain of yours. Just because you read Icha Icha doesn't mean you can actually go and DO any of those things, especially not to a girl like her! She's jail-bait dammit!" Shizune whacked Kakashi over the head with Lina's medical chart with a resounding 'smack'.

"OW! Hey hey, stop it! I'm not that stupid, ok? And for your information, this 'little girl' here is actually 29! So see? Even if I had any inappropriate thoughts, they wouldn't be all that inappropriate, considering she's only a few years younger than me. But I'll have you know that I'm NOT having any weird thoughts. I may be a pervert, but even I have some standards-OW!" A scroll came flying in from the window and Kakashi turned to see Tenten standing furiously inside the room. Slightly behind her stood Neji, arms folded across his chest as always.

"What's wrong with nee-chan? Why don't you think she's good enough for you? I'll have you know she is 10 times better than any woman you will ever meet, anywhere! She's adorable, strong, maybe not book smart but definitely has good instincts, and even if she's a bit of a spazz she's got a heart of gold and-"

"ENOUGH! We're bothering Sasaki-san's rest! Everyone, out!" Shizune pointed to the door and glared at all the standing occupants. In single file, they all walked out to the hallway, where they decided to live and let live and part ways. Kakashi walked out of the hospital, picked up a serving of Ichiraku's miso ramen with eggplant and broiled saury, and slowly made his way home, while Tenten and Neji went off to practice for a few hours before he walked her home and kissed her goodnight (awww).

line

The following day, Lina awoke with a lot of questions and no one to answer them. Deciding she was fine, despite having suffered serious injuries from a battle just 2 days ago, she took out her IV tubes and climbed out of bed. It seemed her legs were fine, if a little shaky, but otherwise uninjured. Reaching the door, she swung it open, and crashed her face smack into someone's flak jacket. "Ow!" Rubbing her nose, she looked up to see Kakashi looking down at her in mild amusement.

"Going somewhere?"

"Yeah, I'm getting out of here. Why are you standing outside my door?" standing her ground, Lina refused to budge despite the close proximity. Of course, Kakashi didn't even seem to notice it, so he didn't move either.

"I was going to come see you. But I guess if you're all better there's no need." And so they stood, talking (well, arguing is more like it) about 3 inches apart from each other. Finally, Lina caved and walked back to the bed, partially because her legs were starting to shake pretty badly and she didn't want to have to fall into some stranger's arms. _'Because despite how nice he is, Kakashi is still a stranger. I know nothing about him. Get a grip.'_

"Well, this has been fun, and as much as I would love to stay and argue with you over my intentions and why or why not it's appropriate to stay outside of a room, I really must get going. Later." Kakashi turned to leave.

"Wait. Erm..." Here Lina squirmed, looking a little uncomfortable in the silence that had fallen. "Thanks. You know, for bringing me here and all. And for helping out back in the forest. You didn't know me, and you could have just left me out there. So...thanks." She looked away and tried to focus her attention on something, anything. When Kakashi didn't break the silence, she half-heartedly joked, "But I guess you couldn't exactly ignore me in front of Tenten without looking like a bad guy hu-"

"You know," Kakashi had some how moved right beside her bed and was speaking directly in her ear. _'When did he...?'_ "It's incredibly rude to not say thank you directly to a person's face." Kakashi's soft voice and breath through his mask was making Lina's neck hairs tickle, making her stutter and stammer for a few moments before he let out a chuckle and straightened up and said "Maa maa. You're right, I couldn't have ignored you without looking bad. But also, I would never let a fellow Konoha comrade die in front of me if I could help it. So you can forget about it." He walked out of the room, leaving Lina to calm herself and try, TRY not to think about his voice in her ear, how close he was, if she had just turned she could have kis- "GAAHHH! No! Bad Lina, bad Lina! Stop it stop it!" Seemingly out of nowhere, Lina started smacking her forehead and yelling. While kissing a mask didn't exactly appeal to her, the thought of what lay underneath was enough to make her face steam. A nurse quickly came in and worriedly asked "Sasaki-san, are you alright? Would you like me to call Shizune-sama?"

"No, that's fine. But, when can I get out of here?" Despite not minding the hospital, Lina had a distinct feeling that she had forgotten something important, and she wanted to know what. That, and she REALLY needed to have sex. Meaningless, animalistic, sex. Anything to get her mind off what just happened.

"I'd say tomorrow afternoon, you should be good as new." With that, the nurse left the room, closing the door behind her. _'Well, she SEEMS to be doing better. At least she isn't going nuts, but what was that just now? Oh well, I guess it's a good thing that she's forgotten about 'losing' her family. Poor girl, if I'd found out my family was gone, I'd go crazy too. But thankfully that's not true for either of our cases. Oh, I hope Shizune-sama or the Hokage tells her soon.'_

-end-

liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

*I read somewhere that carnations mean wellness? If i'm wrong sorry about that, but just substitute whichever flower means get well soon :)

A/N: Ok, so this chapter was super boring I know, but I had to get the hospital scene and some more intros out of the way. I promise, after this chapter it'll get better. See? I put in some steaminess towards the end! I'm sorry...I know it's bad. It'll get better. I already have all the steamy/fluffy scenes written, and I know where the story is headed and the steps to get there, it's just the in between boring stuff I gotta write. Forgive me?

Ohh and please review! I'd love to hear your input. Do you think Sasaki Lina is too Mary-Sue? I tried to make her as normal as I could, but it's always possible that I made things worse. How's my writing style? Is there a side story you'd like me to put in? (here are some of the ones I support: NejiTen, SakuSasu, NaruHina, ShizuGai, AsuKurenai, ShikaTem, ShikaIno, InoCho, GaaMatsuri, RaidouGenma, KankuKiba, and although I really do love KakaIru, I won't put it in for obvious reasons) But yeah, please review! 3


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own naruto.

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Sasaki Lina is 29. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: Sasuke is back, but the Pain arc is still going to happen, as is the rest of the stuff not involving Sasuke (including Shinobi Alliance arc! can't wait to see how that turns out). I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?) So basically, this begins in the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime (eps 144-151). Enjoy!

Chapter 5

In the afternoon, Lina's thoughts were interrupted by the loud bang of a door as a green and orange blur rushed into her hospital room who yelled "Dynamic Entry!", followed by Lee-san, Tenten, and Neji-san.

"Lina-san? The beautiful Sasaki Lina, lotus flower of our wondrous Konoha, is that really you? OH WOE IS MEEE! What horrible travesty occurred to you that resulted in such terrible injuries?" The green blur had morphed into a bowl-haircut headed, green-jumpsuit wearing blob of a man, who was presently jumping up and down beside Lina's bed, tightly grasping her hand.

"Gai….only you could dress like that and talk like that. How are you?" Lina wearily addressed her old albeit flamboyant friend.

"How am I? How AM I?! Oh, my dear Lina, you haven't changed a bit, except for the obvious physical changes, but your pure personality and endearing heart has not changed in the last 12 years, not in the least! When I heard you were back from my dear students, I was simply tortured at the idea that you'd been alive and well all this time, yet you never once thought to write about poor me. But no matter, what's important is that you're here now. I'm so so so HAPPY to see you, oh beautiful lotus flower of Konoha, there is so much to tell-"

"Ok ok, thank you Gai. You're still as..erm..._energetic,_ as before-"

"Gai-sensei, Gai-sensei! Won't you please introduce us formally to your cherished friend? We've met before, but Tenten didn't give a proper introductio-OW!" Lee got smacked by a scroll-wielding Tenten while Neji shook his head.

"Lee! I introduced you guys perfectly fine! Nee-chan, how are you feeling? I'm sorry, these two goons are disrupting you. When we told Gai-sensei that you were back he just rushed over here before I could stop him." Tenten said apologetically.

"Tenten! How could you speak so unkindly about Gai-sensei! He was simply worried about his old friend. Such a pity, you're so rude to our beloved sensei." Lee protested while Tenten looked at Lina for help. Unfortunately, it didn't come.

"Now now, Tenten, don't look at me like that. You know I don't approve of insubordination! Now, apologize to your sensei. Go on." Lina gave a wink, knowing fully that Gai wouldn't possibly care about something so trivial, and letting Tenten know she wasn't actually serious.

"Nevermind about that, can you believe that I'm a jonin! I have been for a while, but I suppose it's news to you. Of course, I'm sure you can become one too, if you just ask the Hokage. " at this Gai flashed a blinding smile towards Lina, temporarily blinding her.

"Aaaand that's enough of that, unless you WANT to blind her." Neji pulled Gai out of the room and shoved Lee out after him, closing the door and coming back to Tenten's side.

"Nee-chan, look at you! You're so skinny, are you sure you've been eating properly? You normally eat so much and yet stay so skinny, but that kind of skinny is different from what's going on right now. You look sick! I know Kakashi-sensei's been here regularly, maybe I should ask him to make sure you eat. Ooh, or better yet, I'll ask Shizune-san, since she's the medic in charge of you." Tenten fussed over Lina like a mother hen.

"Tenten...TENTEN! Haha, I'm fine, really. I'm skinny cuz I don't really have an appetite, but never fear! As soon as I get out of here I'm gonna make you treat me to some ramen, ok? 10 bowls, on you!" Lina flashed a smile, making Tenten regret asking about her figure.

"Nee-chan, when do you think you'll be able to get out of here? I want to show you all my favorite spots, maybe you might even remember a few! Ooh, and I want to spar with you, I have so much to show you! Not to mention you still haven't seen Hinata or any of the other Rookie 11. Sai, Sakura, and Naruto are away at the moment, but everyone else should be in the village."

"Rookie 11? Wow, you actually have a name for your group, huh? I'd love to meet them, I should be out of here this time tomorrow. So how about we get dinner? I think I'll want to find a place to stay before then, so I guess I can search in the afternoon and then we can all meet up for dinner. OOH! What was that place called? They made excellent ramen...um...umm….Ichiraku's? Are they still around?" Lina suddenly looked really excited at the thought of eating her favorite meal: ramen.

"Oh...Ichiraku's? Well, they're still open, sure, but...don't you think you'd want something a little more...good?" Tenten's hesitant voice was drowned out by Lina's.

"No no! In all my travels (boy, that sounds odd), I have never had a better bowl of ramen than Ichiraku's. Now that I'm back, I MUST have some as my first meal. Lina insisted.

_'Great, we've got another Naruto on our hands.'_ Neji thought glumly. And here he was actually starting to sort of kind of maybe slightly accept this girl, since she WAS a friend of Tenten's. But it seemed that fate had other plans for him.

After agreeing on a time to meet up, the three were interrupted by a sharp knock followed by a voluptuous blond pigtailed lady marching into the room. Immediately Neji and Tenten bowed and stepped aside for the Hokage, who in turn ignored them and addressed Lina.

"So, you're the reason Gai's gone nuts again, huh? How do you feel?"

"Um, who are you?" Lina asked before noticing Tenten mouthing something. "Ho...ho….Tenten what are you trying to say?"

"I'm the Godaime Hokage." Again, Tsunade ignored the two behind her.

"Hokage-sama, thank you for taking the time to see me. I'm feeling much better thank you. I should be out of here tomorrow, to make room for other patients." Lina said formally.

"Good. Well, when you leave, come by my office. I have some things to discuss with you that I'd rather not do in public. That, and there's the matter of your family. No-" Lina attempted to speak. "-I won't talk about it here, the situation is very delicate. Come see me tomorrow."

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

With that, the Hokage strolled out of the room and motioned for Neji and Tenten to leave as well, seeing as it was getting late and visiting hours were over. Saying goodbye, the two teens left Lina to do nothing but twiddle her thumbs before finally going to sleep.

The next day, Lina woke up at 6am, and did her best to get out of the hospital as soon as she could. It wasn't until 11am, after having annoyed the hell out of nearly all the nurses that the head nurse finally allowed her to leave early. Lina packed her belongings and headed straight to the Hokage's office.

Knocking on the door, she was surprised to see a passed out Hokage behind her desk, with a cup of foggy liquid in her hand. Cautiously, Lina approached the desk and tried to wake the lady. After calling her name a few times, to which the only response was a grunt, and a couple of times clearing her throat loudly, which didn't receive any response, Lina slowly poked the Hokage's arm. Of course, being Tsunade, the Hokage immediately thought the person poking her was a threat and with a casual fling threw Lina across the room onto a wall with a sickening crunch.

"Who wiz it?" Tsunade croaked. Lina lifted herself off the ground shakily. She'd heard of Tsunade's infamous strength, anyone who was a half-decent shinobi knew the story of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha, but she'd never imagined she'd be at the pummelling end of the fist! Checking herself over for any new injuries, Lina bowed deeply and said, "I'm Sasaki Lina. You told me to come see you as soon as I got out of the hospital…? I'm sorry, I didn't know what to do when you didn't respond."

"Mmm. It's fine. Sit down. We're supposed to wait for Kakashi, but Kami knows he's going to be late as always and I have a lot of work to do, so let's get started." Taking a sip out of the cup in her hand, she held up another one to Lina. "Sake? It's still cool." When Lina shook her head, Tsunade shrugged, poured the sake into her own cup, and downed it before continuing. "Ok, so I've been briefed about what you were doing away from the village by Shizune, who's also my assistant, but I want you to elaborate. What happened to make you leave? How did you stay away for so long, considering you're only a chunin? How did that battle start, the one where Team Gai and Kakashi came and saved you?"

Lina took in a deep breath and began her story, talking to her hands rather than looking up at the Hokage's face. She outlined everything that had happened, from when she lost her 2 former teammates Hanaki and Aoi. The three of them had been the first female genin team in a long time, but as soon as they all became chunin, Hanaki and Aoi had been killed on there second mission as a team, with the only Lina survived being that they had been shielding her due to her carrying an important scroll. After recounting the mission and why it was a failure, Lina outlined her relationship with Souta. She didn't delve into too much detail, thinking that the Hokage, being a woman, would be able to understand why she had broken down so much further after his death. Looking up at this point, Lina looked into the Hokage's eyes. Instead of seeing the intuitive understanding she would expect from a mother figure, all she saw was the harsh stare of someone who had been in this world far too long, and had seen so many loved ones pass on that it no longer fazed her. Shivering, Lina looked back down at her hands and continued telling her tale, summarizing the last 12 years in a mere few sentences. When she was done, she just stared down at her lap, too nervous to move. What was the Hokage thinking? Would she accept Lina back as a kunoichi? Would Lina be sent to jail (because, technically, she DID commit treason)? Thoughts whirred in her mind.

Tsunade cleared her throat. "I can see that a lot has happened to you, and I'm guessing you've changed quite a bit. I cannot simply allow you to come back with no consequences, because well, you should of course be punished." Lina gulped and braced herself. Seeing this Tsunade's shell softened a tad, as she gently said, "For now, I want to test your skills. When you left you were a chunin, but after 12 years anyone would expect you to have developed SOME skills. Maa, maa. Where's is that damned Hatake?! Always late, even when it counts. He's going to be the one testing you. I know you've heard of him, he's pretty much a legend in Fire country. He's going to be making sure you're fit for duty. If he gives the go ahead, I'll let you become a chunin, and then afterwards we can SEE about if you're ready to be jonin. As for your punishment, you will be on probation for a month. While under probation, you will be escorted everywhere by at least 3 ANBU. If you try and leave them behind, I WILL send out search teams and have you put in jail this time. Got it?" At this Lina blanched and nodded till she was dizzy. Suddenly, 3 masked shinobi landed at Lina's side. Guessing they were her guards, she said nothing. Satisfied, Tsunade continued speaking.

"Now, there's the topic of your family. I heard that on the day you came back you went into a fit after hearing-" here Tsunade shot a glare at Shizune, "-that you were the last of the Sasaki clan. Now, let me make things clear for you. No, your family is not dead, at least not all of them. Your grandfather, Sasaki Hiro, the renowned genius of the Sasaki clan, died a couple of years after you left. I've read his medical file, wanting to make sure I knew everything before I talked to you, and by all accounts they say he died of unknown reasons. He seemed healthy, but one day his heart just gave out. The rest of your family is alive, but since your grandfather's death they have all become quite closed up. My hope is that with you home, they will be able to open up again. Your brother and sister are now chunin and jonin, but they rarely go on missions because your parents don't let them out of the compound enough. And of course, your parents stay home and guard the compound as well. So, as you can see, your being home will hopefully have some good effects."

With all that said, Tsunade looked at Lina, watching for any telltale signs of weakness. '_All she got was shock. Kei's a chunin? Katsumi's a jonin?! My goodness, when I left they were so small! Ouji-sama is dead? Poor Obaa-sama, they were so in love. Oh, my head is spinning with all this information. But wait, Hokage-sama expects something out of me….but what?' _ Lina sat in shock for a few moments before shaking her head clear and nodding. "I understand, Tsunade-sama. May I go see my family now? Oh, and I'm pretty sure I won't need accommodations, I can just stay in the compound." Oh, how naïve Lina was, to think that her family would let her back in so quickly.

Tsunade waved her away, but not before telling Lina to find Kakashi and set a time to get tested. With that, Lina walked out of the office with her silent new companions and towards the compound. It was now just past noon, and the village was bustling with civilians and shinobi, all working hard. Jumping on top of the roofs of buildings, Lina made her way towards the main gate of the village, crossing the middle dividing street of the village onto the left side, and made her way to her clan's compound. She paid no heed to her silent followers, neither slowing down for them nor speeding up. If she was to get out of probation as soon as possible, she'd have to deal with these nuisances for a little while longer, she decided.

When Lina arrived at the compound, it was almost like she'd never left. She slowed to a walk, and made her way to the gates to enter. When she tried to open them she found it impossible, until she remembered an old trick she'd used when she'd snuck out of the house to meet Souta. Smiling to herself, she pulled out 2 senbon and worked the gate's rusty hinges until they let out an earth-shuddering creak that could only be from years of rust build up. Why no one bothered to clean the rust was beyond her, but she was glad that she'd found something she recognized. Walking in, she left the door open, calling out to the ANBU, "Lock the door, please." before walking on.

Almost immediately after walking up the stone path, she was brought back to when she was a child. The memories that had laid dormant in her mind came flooding back as she turned her head from side to side, remembering each place she'd tripped and fallen, where she'd had a fight with her sister, where she'd cried in fright when she'd found out her mother was pregnant with her brother, worried that she would become forgotten. But as she stood, remembering, she felt a presence in front of her. Looking up, she saw a young boy's face, looking shocked at her. Neither of them moved for a moment. At least, that was until Lina reached out her hands and called out "Kei…?" The boy turned his head and ran inside, screaming "KAA-SAN! TOU-SAN! NEE-SAN! COME QUICK! LINA NEE-SAN'S GHOST IS IN THE GARDEN!"

Lina stood blinking for a moment, before she walked towards the doorway, picking up the pace with each step. She felt her 3 escorts disappear from her side, each going in separate directions. When she arrived at the doorstep, she paused for a moment before walking in. There, stood her family. Her mother, an average-sized woman dressed in a green and purple apron, black wavy hair as her daughter's cascading down her shoulders to her waist stood next to her father, a tall lean man whose face, Lina noticed, looked aged with the appearance of harsh wrinkles, his hair a medium brown color spiking from the top of his head in an unruly manner. Her younger sister, the middle child, stood at the entrance of a hallway to the right, dressed in training clothes, looking like she was in the process of leaving to meet with her teammates, with her straight medium brown hair cut short in an asymmetrical bob. Her brother, Kei, the youngest of the family, stood in front of all of them, staring and pointing at Lina, stuttering like she was an actual ghost (because, to him, she was). The rest of the family stood with shocked looks on the faces.

After surveying the family, and taking in the changes that had been brought on with time, Lina noticed her grandmother was missing. But before she could say a word, she saw her mother slowly make her way towards her. Standing stock still, Lina allowed the woman to come closer until they were standing right in front of each other. An arm stretched out, and Lina, expecting a hug or gentle touch, flinched when she felt a slap across her face. Holding her face, she stared at the woman who'd given birth to her. The shocked expression had left, and now in it's place was a look of pure anger, so much so that Lina began to cower. She remembered her mother's temper, and she knew that it was always at it's worst when the woman WASN'T talking. From the corner of her eye, she saw her father come up beside her mother and open his mouth. He quietly placed his hand on his wife's shoulder and said, "We should talk." before leading them all to the dining room. Lina followed the family, not caring when she saw Kei and Katsumi glance at her fearfully. They all knew something was going to happen. But no one knew how bad the outburst was going to be when it finally came.

In the dining room, Lina sat across from the rest of her family, and waited for the anger. Her father, although he had seemed calm at first, showed his anger through the first words he uttered to her. "Explain yourself." And so she did. There were many times in the story when she felt that she couldn't go on, but she forced herself to, trying to convey all her guilt and emotions through her words. She tried to be strong for as long as she could, but by the end of the story she was nearly blind from the unshed tears in her eyes. Finally looking up, she looked only at her mother. This woman, the one who'd raised her, who'd taught her how to be a good kunoichi, was the only one that mattered right now. If she didn't accept her, then her world would truly be gone.

Her mother sat staring at her daughter, speechless. While the whole family sat staring, holding onto their breaths, they heard a pit-patting sound of indoor sandals, as an elderly woman came inside. "What's all the noise? I could hear it from the other side of the compound. Who was at the door-Oh my Kami." Lina's grandmother, Sasaki Reiko stood shocked for a moment, staring at Lina before turning to her son. "Satori? I-is-is this who I think this is?" Mutely, Sasaki Satori nodded. Another silence fell, this one short, and broken by a sharp try as Lina's grandmother ran towards her. Hugging her granddaughter, she cried for joy, thanking the gods that her eldest granddaughter was back. But before she could get much further, Sasaki Kiyoko, Lina's mother, spoke up sharply. "Get out."

The whole family stared, shocked at this statement. Each was thinking, "Surely, she doesn't mean it…?" But she did. Pointing to the door, the mother stood up and ground out, "Get out. Now."

"But honey-" "No, Satori. Not this time."

"Kaa-san-" "Tsumi-chan, quiet. Children should keep quiet when adults are talking."

"Okaa-san…?" Lina ventured. Her mother's stare hardened. "You are no daughter of mine. You leave without saying a word to any of us, you don't try and contact us of 12 years…12 YEARS! You abandoned your village, your clan. You have disgraced this family. Get out. NOW." No more protests came from the family's mouth, until the grandmother spoke up. "Kiyoko-san. You know I trust your judgment, and I am not one to pry into how you teach your children, but Lina-chan is a Sasaki. You can't abandon your family-" "Okaa-san. I respect you, and I would follow you to the ends of the earth, but in this matter, I ask you to kindly not interfere. You will not change my decision. You-" here Kiyoko pointed at Lina "Get the hell out of this house. I won't ask again."

Lina stood up, walked towards the doorway, too shocked to do anything else. She resisted the urge to run back and plead forgiveness, knowing this would do no good. She heard her brother and sister's muffled cries as she neared the door, and heard her father's sharp intake of breath. Upon arrival of the doorway, Lina paused, looked back, tears streaming down her face, and rather than say goodbye, she said the one thing that was on her mind. "I love you." With that, she walked out the door, through the path that had held so many memories for her, and out onto the street. It was here that she felt her 3 escorts come back up behind her. She'd forgotten about them for a moment, and she briefly wondered if they'd heard/seen the family reunion, if you could call it that. Ignoring them, she walked aimlessly down the street, not really caring where she was going as her tears blurred her vision.

Finally, unable to walk any further, she sat down on a random step in someone's doorway and cried. Out of the corner of her mind, she felt rather than saw her escorts shift uncomfortably and move a few metres away to give her some privacy, but she was too consumed in her sorrow to care. Her family had kicked her out. She had no where to go, no one to go to, she was all alone. True, she'd thought she was alone before, when her teammates and Sou had died, but back then she'd known in the back of her mind that she would always have a family to go back to. Now, she truly had no one.

"You know, you really shouldn't be sitting in front of a person's door crying. People might get the wrong idea of the person who lives there." A smooth voice came from above her head, and Lina snapped her head back. There, standing in front of her, was none other than Hatake Kakashi, the person she least wanted let see her in a red blubbery mess.

-end-

Author's note: Oooh! damn this was a looong chapter to get through! I've been working on it all week, trying to figure out how to best make it interesting, what with all the boring intros and retellings. I was going to split it in half and only post part of it, but I felt bad leaving you with such a terrible chapter last week, so I made it super long to add in some drama. Oh and yes, i know I left you with a cliffhanger, but I am currently writing the followup chapter, so it should be out by tomorrow, this is where it starts getting interesting!

Oh and another thing, when I was talking about the Sasaki compound, the map I used was this one: . ?/topic/53580-naruto-rpg/

Now, I don't know if this is accurate or not, but, I'm gonna use my 'author' title and just say that it is, ok? So, as you can see, Hatake clan is kind of bordering on the village's mid-line, if you imagine the mid-line being the one that runs from left to right of the picture starting from the giant red triangle marked Hokage Monument and ending where it says Main Gate (you possibly need to click on the picture to get it to full view). Anyway, Directly above where Hatake clan is marked is a triangle of land. That is where I'm putting the Sasaki clan compound, right at the point of the triangle farthest from Hatake Clan. So, as you can see, Lina walked a good distance to have walked all the way to Kakashi's house (also, because I don't recall Kakashi ever mentioning where he lives, I'm gonna assume he lives in or near the compound, if he's in an apartment or something).

But anyway, onto the next part! Btw, please please please review! And thank you to that one reviewer! I'm happy I got my first review, hopefully I get more! 3


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own naruto.

Please note that this chapter contains some suggestive material and the non-scientific word for coitus is mentioned. If you are uncomfortable with either of these things, please do no read the part that I have marked as 'suggestive material', although if you're a teen it should be fine. It's really only a tiny tiny part.

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Sasaki Lina is 29. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: Sasuke is back, but the Pain arc is still going to happen, as is the rest of the stuff not involving Sasuke (including Shinobi Alliance arc! can't wait to see how that turns out). I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?) So basically, this begins in the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime (eps 144-151). Enjoy!

Chapter 6

RECAP OF LAST CHAPTER

_"You know, you really shouldn't be sitting in front of a person's door crying. People might get the wrong idea of the person who lives there." A smooth voice came from above her head, and Lina snapped her head back. There, standing in front of her, was none other than Hatake Kakashi, the person she least wanted let see her in a red blubbery mess._

And Now...

"Kakashi-san?! O-oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't know you lived here. I-I-I'll be on my way. Goodbye, Kakashi-san." Lina hastily got up to her feet and shuffled away, wiping her face and looking anywhere but his face. From the shocked glance she'd thrown his way, she couldn't make out any expressions, which of course would have been covered anyway considering his face was about 85% covered by a mask and forehead protector. Sniffling loudly, Lina walked past several houses before she noticed that Kakashi was following her. Rather than turn around and show him her hideous crying face, she simply sped up, hoping he'd take the hint and leave her alone. Of course, he didn't, and simply sped up with her , matching her pace. Not wanting to run, Lina simply stopped walking, and nearly stumbled when Kakashi's body crashed into her back with a soft 'oof'.

Still not facing him, Lina asked, "Kakashi-san, what do you want?"

"What do I want? Hmm….what do I want? Well, I guess I'm a little hungry right now, so I could go for some miso soup." Kakashi's voice sounded casual and teasing. Irritated, Lina huffed and walked on, with him trailing behind her, at a farther distance, she noticed, in case she suddenly stopped again. "So...why were you crying at my doorstep?" Kakashi asked lazily, and Lina glanced back at him. His hands were in his pocket, and he was looking at her with an unreadable expression.

"It's nothing. Just personal stuff." With that, silence fell on the pair again. Kakashi didn't mention the 3 ANBU escorts following them, making Lina very grateful. Lina slowed her pace down slightly to allow for Kakashi to catch up to her, and they started walking side by side, neither saying anything. Finally, they reached the middle of the village, where shops were bustling with civilians and shinobi. It was now around 2pm, and having not eaten since breakfast in the hospital, Lina's stomach was starting to protest in louder volumes and faster intervals. After a particularly loud grumble, Lina distinctly heard a chuckle come from the man. Before she could retort, she found herself pulled by the arm into a tea house. "I think we'd better get some food in you, before the villagers in Suna come here to complain about the noise. This place serves good food at a reasonable price."

The atmosphere was pleasant, and quiet, which was a nice, and the food there light yet satisfying. Lina ordered as many platters of food as she could afford, earning wide-eyed stares from the patrons, owner, staff, and a raised eyebrow from Kakashi himself. Ignoring them all, Lina dug into the food. At the first bite, Lina's taste buds tingled, and she moaned in delight, earning another deep throated chuckle from her meal companion as he also dug into his food, eating too fast for her to see his face. But then again, she mused, he must have a reason for having a mask. Deciding to not intrude and ask him about it, she kept her eyes on her food and didn't look up once. Noticing this, Kakashi smiled behind his mask, before continuing to eat. Even if SHE was being nice, that didn't mean that the rest of the patrons would be so thoughtful. Neither spoke for a few minutes, until Lina, having slightly appeased her stomach for the time being, put down her chopsticks and asked, "Have you ever not realized the value of something until it was too late?"

Kakashi put down his own chopsticks and thoughtfully said, "Of course. I'm guessing everyone's done that before. It's human nature to forget how important some things are." Lina glanced up at him slightly before looking down at her food and nodded, eating again. Then she remembered something. "Kakashi-san, you weren't in the Hokage's office today, we were supposed to meet with her."

"Ahh, I knew I was forgetting something. Sorry, sorry, I got lost on the path of life." Kakashi scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, giving Lina an eye crinkled smile in the process. She stared at him then burst into laughter. "Seriously? You 'got lost on the path of life'? That's the best you can do? Wow. Well, it's fine, I suppose. Hokage-sama said that she wanted you to test me, to see if my skills are good enough to be of use to the village. She said if possible, I can become jonin soon, after my probation is over." Lina let a hint of pride come out in her words, pleased that her skills had improved some in the last 12 years. Although really, if they hadn't she would be dead, or at least an embarrassment to her clan. At the thought of her clan, Lina's lighter mood darkened, thinking of what had just happened just a short while ago. She couldn't believe her mother had actually kicked her out. Now, she had no home. Where was she going to stay?!

Kakashi, not noticing her heavy mood, said, "That's fine. I suppose I'll give you the bell test, with a slight variation. Basically what you need to do is get a bell from me in the span of a couple of hours. If you can do it, you pass."

"Oh, I've had that test before! But what's the variation?"

"Hmm...I'll think about it and tell you tomorrow when we meet up. Say, 9am at training field 4?" Lina nodded in mute agreement and finished her food. After paying (which Lina did, when Kakashi made up some excuse about leaving his wallet in his laundry and all the money being shredded), they walked out of the tea shop. Wondering where he was taking her, Lina silently followed, only to notice that he seemed to be walking back toward his home. Suddenly, he asked, "So, I know Tsunade-sama must have told you that your family is ok. Why don't you go say hi to them? I'm sure they'll be thrilled to have you back."

At this, Lina stopped, Kakashi doing the same after a few steps. Looking at her, he concluded that he was accurate in thinking the reason she'd been crying was family-related. _'What happened? Did they not accept her? No, that couldn't be it. How could they not accept one of their own, when there's only a handful of them left? But then what else could it be?'_ Kakashi remained silent, observing the small girl, her head bent down with her hair falling in front of her face obscuring it from him. Then, she suddenly picked up her head and gave him a smile quite like one of Sai's fake smiles from back when they first met and said, "I'll go see them later. I'm kind of nervous, seeing as it's my family and all." For added effect, she scratched the back of her head not unlike he did when he was trying to hide something. Remembering how she didn't poke and prod into his business at the tea shop with his mask, he remained silent and pretended to accept the fake answer. In truth, he was more than slightly angry at her family. How could they treat her like that? He, who had no family, realized the importance of keeping his loved ones close, even if he didn't have any anymore. Would it take such terrible pain as his for them to realize what they were giving up, what they were doing to her? Shaking his head inwardly, he motioned her to follow him.

"Come on, why don't you come over for a cup of tea. It's the least I can do for someone who paid for my lunch." He led Lina into his house, stepping aside to let her in first after opening the door. Lina gingerly walked in, careful to take up as little space as possible and surveyed the small apartment that was about a block away from the Hatake Clan compound.

It was pretty plain, yet somehow comfortable. She slipped off her shoes and walked through the hallway that was in front of the door. To her immediate left was an open space that contained a sofa, a loveseat, and a coffee table, and in front of that, partially blocked from view by a wall that separated it from the hallway was a small kitchen. To the right of the hallway were 2 rooms (bedrooms, she assumed) and right at the end of the hallway was the bathroom. As Kakashi busied himself making tea, she wandered around the flat, and at the far corner of the living room she saw a bookshelf filled with orange-labelled books which seemed oddly familiar. Curious, Lina knelt down and picked one out. _'Icha Icha Tactics? Wow, who would have thought that the famous Copy Ninja was also such a fan of Jiraiya-sama's work? Hmm he keeps his stuff in good condition, but they also look well-worn.'_ Lina fingered the spines of the novels, not noticing that the noise in the kitchen had ceased.

"Ah, I see you've noticed my collection. See something you like?" Of course, Kakashi had only meant to tease her, immediately assuming she'd blush at least as hard as Hinata and start yelling at him for being a 'pervert'. Much to his surprise, she merely replied "Oh yes. I have to say, I'm quite a fan of Jiraiya-sama's works myself, although not quite as much as you, I see. You keep your books in surprisingly good condition, despite the pages inside being well worn and dog-eared. Mine are actually quite worn out. Where do you get the books? You'll have to point the store out to me one day, I really need to buy a new copy of Icha Icha Violence, it's the most worn-out one I've got!" To his surprise, Kakashi saw Lina pick up a copy of Icha Icha and flip through it, pausing in some pages and smiling, not a hint of a blush present on her face.

-Suggestive material starts here-

The last time he'd seen a girl so calm and collected around his collection...well ok let's be real. There had never been such a time, since he never let girls into his home. Whenever he DID have sex, it was always a one night stand, and never at his apartment, always at either the girl's place or a hotel somewhere. Why he suddenly decided to let Lina into his home, when he hardly knew her, was beyond her, but he had to say he was glad he did, if only for the simple knowledge that he'd possibly found a person who could accept his erm..._odd_...hobby.

-suggestive material ends here-

While he was thinking of all of this, Lina had returned the book to its rightful place on the shelf, and was picking up a cup of jasmine tea, plain, no milk or sugar, the way it was traditionally drunk. Kakashi motioned her to sit down on the sofa and he himself placed himself perpendicular to her, sitting on a loveseat. After a moment of silence, Lina asked, "So, have you thought of the twist you would put on my bell test tomorrow?" She was curious as to what he would make her do. Kakashi thought for a moment, before replying, "I have."

Lina waited. Nothing. She sighed, and prodded, "And?"

Kakashi lazily said "You'll see tomorrow."

Another sigh. Lina put down her cup, and made to stand up. "Thank you, Kakashi-san, for the tea, and opening your home to me. If you'll please excuse me, I have to sort some things out, before I meet with Tenten and her group of friends for dinner. You're welcome to join us if you like." Lina got up and headed to the door, Kakashi following her.

"Hm, I'll see. But even if I don't, don't forget that we're meeting tomorrow morning at training field 4."

"Right, 9am, I won't be late. Goodbye, Kakashi-san."

"Later, Lina-san." Lina walked out the door, hearing the door close behind her and felt 3 presences near her again. Sighing, she said, "You know, I know it's your job to watch me and make sure I don't do anything, so why don't you just come out?"

3 figures came out of nowhere, and stood in front of her. The masks of the ANBU were a hawk, a tiger, and a bear. She of course couldn't make out the faces of the shinobi. "There, that's better. I don't know if you were trying to give me privacy or what, but it's extremely frustrating to have 3 shinobi at the edge of my mind moving like flies I can't quite reach. From now on, how about you just stay next to me?" Taking their silence for acceptance, Lina nodded and said, "Good. Now, I'm going to the Hokage's office. As you know, I don't have a home anymore. Gotta get an apartment or something." She glumly walked to the Hokage office, her 3 guards trailing behind her.

But, once she got there, she was told she would be unable to talk to the Hokage today, as she was extremely busy and in a meeting. _'Great, now what?'_ She was about to leave the office when Shizune, who'd overheard her conversation, came up to chat. "Hi there, Sasaki-san. May I ask why you need to talk to Hokage-sama? Maybe I can help?"

Lina explained her situation, leaving out the family details, and Shizune stumped. "Well, I know the Hokage wants you to be guarded at all times" here she looked up apologetically, "so if you don't live with your clan then you'd have to share a room with a jonin. But the trouble is, most jonin are either on missions or already have flat-mates."

Lina's stomach lurched as she thought of a _certain_ jonin who was neither of those things. But Shizune had other plans. "Hmm, how about Kurenai? She's supposed to room with Anko, but seeing as she's on a mission and will be for a while, we could let you live in her place, at least temporarily. Here-" Shizune wrote down directions to her new home on one sheet of paper, handed it to Lina, and then wrote a quick note on another, giving it to a messenger bird to give to Kurenai. "-there. Now, I don't mean to sound rude, but I really must get going. Good luck!" Before she could hurry off though, Lina quickly asked about her luggage and pack. She'd left them with the Hokage after her meeting with her, forgetting to take them with her. She was directed to a room in a lower level of the office. She picked up her things and made her way to her new 'home'.

Kurenai Yuhi. Lina mulled over the name, wondering what this woman was going to be like. While thinking of her new roommate, she arrived at her new home, and knocked on the door. A tall black haired, red eyed kunoichi opened the door, looked straight for a full few seconds before tilting her head down and seeing Lina. _'Oh joy. She's going to be one of THOSE_.' Sighing inwardly, Lina put up her best smile and said, "Hi. I'm Sasaki Lina, I'm your new roommate, at least temporarily. Nice to meet you, Yuhi-san." She extended her hand, and waited. And waited. Suddenly she heard a bark of laughter come from inside the apartment. Lina looked around Kurenai and noticed the outline of a man sitting on the couch. A man, she noticed, with silver hair and a mask. There could only be one person. Lina looked back up at Kurenai, and waited for the kunoichi to speak. Silently, she was motioned to go inside with a quiet 'Welcome.'

Lina walked into the apartment, and looked around. It seemed similar to Kakashi's apartment, in that it was laid out the same way. But Kurenai, she noticed, had quite a lot of flowers, mostly poppies. But before she could get a good look around, Kakashi, having gotten over his apparent onset of chuckles, motioned for her to sit down as he led the round of introductions. After some meaningless small talk, Lina asked, "So, is it ok for me to unpack. I kind of need a shower."

"Of course. Your room is the one closer to the bathroom. Make yourself at home." Lina walked into her room, where a twin sized mattress lay against one wall, and a window was opposite the door. She began to unpack her belongings, and when she reached her beloved Icha Icha set hidden in scrolls, she smiled, and placed them on top of her night stand. Turning back, she began busying herself with settling in.

liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiine

Kakashi POV

Watching her disappear into her room, I turned to Kurenai, only to see her staring at me quizzically. "What?"

"Nothing. So, why are you more at ease with her than you were with me for the first 3 months of our meeting?"

"I have no idea what you mean." I tried to look as casual as possible, but it seemed like it didn't work. Kurenai just snorted and shook her head. "Whatever. Just wait till she finds out about your porn." At this I smiled, although she couldn't see it.

"I'll have you know that that's not that big of a deal when it comes to her." Kurenai looked and me, confused, but I didn't go on. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing, just you wait until you get to know her better, you'll be surprised. But anyway-" I got up and stretched "-I should go. I have to do some shopping, there's almost no food left in the apartment." But before I left, I wandered into Lina-san's room. The door was open, so it wasn't like I just barged right in. Her back was facing me, and she didn't seem to notice. I saw that she'd put her Icha Icha books quite blatantly on the night stand. _'Well, that's different.'_ I coughed, and she spun around so quickly she almost toppled over onto the bed.

"Kakashi-san! You startled me. Is there something I can do for you?" Her voice sounded sweet, just like her child-like appearance. Her dress fit her form quite well, accentuating all her assets-_stop! Stop thinking that train of thought, it won't get you anywhere. _

"Oh, no. I just wanted to let you know I'm going now. I hope you settle in ok. And don't forget to be at the training field tomorrow." I briefly wondered if her 3 escorts would be watching her sleep tonight.

"Yes, yes. I won't be late. Oh, and thank you Kakashi-san, for being so nice to me." Her voice sounded calming, despite the high pitch. I shrugged, not showing how happy I really was. _'Wait...I'm happy? Why am I so happy? She was probably just being polite. Kakashi, you're hobby is starting to make you lose it.'_ "Well, bye then." "Goodbye, Kakashi-san."

Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiine

Lina's POV

I watched Kakashi-san leave my room, and was about to get back to unpacking when I noticed Kurenai eyeing me from right outside the door. Smiling to her, I thanked her again for allowing me to stay. Not saying anything, she looked at me with those blood red eyes of hers for a moment before speaking. "Do you cook?" I blinked. I scanned through my brain as I thought of all the dished I'd made for myself. Did those count as cooking when you had nothing else to eat?

"I suppose, I mean, I'm not sure I'm very good. The only people who've eaten my food are...well they aren't around anymore." Kurenai's eyes softened and her hand came up to caress her stomach. It was then that I noticed that she was pregnant. Her figure hadn't quite left yet, but there was a visible bump if you looked from the side. Vaguely I wondered who the father was. From the way she was touching her stomach, I guessed that he must've died in battle somehow. It was really sad, considering how that now her baby wouldn't have a father. But then again, there was no better place in the whole 5 nations to be a single mother than Konoha. This village, unlike many, took care of its own. I'd never really thought about it while I was actually in the village, but when I left, I noticed how cold and heartless other villages and countries could be towards single parents, especially kunoichi. Sending them off to battle until they were well into their second trimester, not giving special care to needs a parent may have for raising their child, not helping out monetarily, it was downright cruel.

Shaking my head from these thoughts, I focused back on Kurenai. She was very pretty, certainly a gem that was accentuated by those beautiful eyes. And she seemed nice enough. _'Maybe living here won't be so bad.'_ Of course, I felt awful intruding on someone else's lifestyle, especially when I was being guarded by those ridiculous guards, but it really couldn't be helped. Suddenly I remembered something: I had dinner plans with Tenten! I looked at the time, and realized I only had an hour to get ready. I quickly excused myself, telling Kurenai that I would be home later that day and got in the shower. _'I wonder if Hina-chan is going to be there? It's been so long.'_

-end-

Author's note: Next is going to be the dinner and the bell test! What's the big twist? What does Icha Icha have to do with it? And Pakkun and the rest of the ninken and Daisuke make an appearance! Please review! Many thanks to Helli for being so detailed in your reviews, you are so encouraging! 3


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

February-18-13

1:56 PM

Disclaimer: I don't own naruto.

Author's Note: whooooo exams are over! Now it's just assignments and papers, which I tend to do much better at haha. Ehehe, it seems I pulled a Lee and promised something I couldn't do Sorry about that. Here's a super long chapter though, and another one is coming in the morning, after I sleep for a few hours :) This promise I WILL keep :D

Oh man, I kind of lost track of the story in the 2 weeks I've disappeared, so I had to go back from the beginning, read the chapters I'd written, read the stuff I'd written for this chapter, and and then the notes I made for future chapters. Thankfully, I remember what I wanted to write, and the motivation is still there. Don't you hate it when writers abandon their stories for a lack of ideas? It sucks, and I promise not to do that to my loyal readers. As always, please review after reading, I really do appreciate the comments, even if they are to tell me how terrible the story is. Thanks!

**Please note that this chapter contains mature material. I am going to rate this M-MA, so unless you are at least 18 years old or whatever the legal adult age is in your country, do not read the highlighted parts. I have made the rest of the story as detailed as possible so that you won't be missing much except the lemon.**

**To update: There is some swearing in the chapter in parts that are not marked Mature. If you are uncomfortable with swearing, please do not read. Otherwise, if you do, do not flame, flag, or any other form or reporting, because I have marked this chapter M-MA. You have been warned (dum dum DUUUUUUUM! lol)**

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Sasaki Lina is 29. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: Sasuke is back, but the Pain arc is still going to happen, as is the rest of the stuff not involving Sasuke (including Shinobi Alliance arc! can't wait to see how that turns out). I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?) So basically, this begins in the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime (eps 144-151). Enjoy!

RECAP FROM LAST TIME

Lina begins to live with Kurenai, she has a bell test training with Kakashi in the morning (atm it is still the evening of the previous day). Also, remember that the bell test is going to involve Icha Icha and the ninken (including Lina's ninken Daisuke).

Chapter 7

Lina took a shower and hurriedly got dressed. It was now almost 10 minutes till 6pm, the time that she'd promised to meet Tenten at Ichiraku's. Tenten had mentioned that she'd invite the rest of the 'gang', or at least everyone who was in the village at the moment. Lina's stomach twisted nervously, seeing as she was so much older than any of them. Hopefully they didn't treat her like an outsider, although she wouldn't be surprised if they did. She rushed out the door, only to turn back when she remembered she'd forgotten her key to the apartment. As she left for a second time, she once again felt the 3 presences_. 'Oh no, what are they gonna think when they feel these three? I'll have to think of something to tell them.' _ She hurried towards the center for the village, searching for the small restaurant that had the most delicious ramen she'd tasted in the whole 5 nations.

Reaching the stand, she noticed a small group of young teens gathered outside. Of course, because of her short stature, they were all slightly taller than her, something she was extremely self-conscious about. And then she saw it, a flash of brown hair curled into 2 buns. Smiling, she called out to her friend from afar, still unwilling to approach the group.

"Tenten!" Lina saw the girl turn around and see her through the gap of her friends. She wormed her way through the group, who had turned at the sound of a stranger's voice, and came to Lina.

"Lina nee-san! Oh, I'm so glad you could come! Come, come, I have to introduce you to everyone! Guys, this is my nee-san, the person I've been telling you about!" Tenten dragged Lina by the hand towards the group, who stood dumbfounded. She could practically hear their thoughts. _'This is the nee-san Tenten's been talking about? She's so….'_ she didn't want to think about the adjectives they were using in their heads. She surveyed the group, who consisted of Neji and Lee, a blonde girl with purple clothing, a boy with spiky pineapple hair and a lazy expression, a rather plump boy who was holding a bag of chips, a heavily-garbed boy wearing sunglasses and a trench coat, a rather feral looking boy with purple markings on his cheek and a large white dog at his side, and a young girl with indigo blue-ish black hair and white lilac eyes looking at her in shock. Of course, she could guess who the last person was, even without the introductions. "Hina-chan…?"

It was as if the whole world had stopped moving. Lina and Hinata stared at each other for a few moments before Hinata stammered out, "L-l-Lina nee-san?!" Without meaning to, Lina smiled, remembering the girl's younger self. She had been so shy back when the Third Hokage had asked Lina to babysit as a genin. Of course, it was a highly unusual mission, considering how protective the Hyuuga clan were about their family, especially the heiress, but it seems there had been a need, and Lina was the only genin at the time that was accepted by Hyuuga Hiashi, considering her ties to the Sasaki clan, another old clan that valued tradition. Remembering the days Lina had babysat and talked with Hinata, she was shocked out of her reverie when she saw her run towards her, opening up her arms in the last second to envelope the girl. Hinata had certainly grown in the years, as she knew she would. No longer did she sport the short boyish cut of her youth, instead letting it grow and frame her face beautifully.

Her body had also developed quite well, Lina thought in envy as she hugged the now sobbing girl. "Nee-san, I'm so happy to see you! It's been so long, I missed you so much! I couldn't believe it when Tenten told us, and then to see you now, to be able to hug you, oh I missed you!" Hinata cried into Lina's shoulder as she soothed her by rubbing circles into the girl's back. Looking up, she saw the dog boy and trench coat boy's faces soften just a tad. By the way the group was standing, she could easily guess what the teams were. The dog boy was obviously from the Inuzuka clan, the chip eating one must be an Akimichi boy. As for the others, she'd wait for the round of intros before she made any assumptions.

She looked back at the girl crying in her shoulder and said "Hina-chan, don't cry. I missed you so much too, you and Tenten. You have no idea how much my heart broke every time I thought of you guys while I was gone.-" "So why didn't you come back?" Lina stared in shock. She'd never heard Hinata talk in such an accusatory tone, to anyone. She really had grown. She was glad.

"I couldn't...I needed to be alone. I know, it sounds like a cop-out, but I really needed the time away. I missed you both so much, and I would wake up so many times in the middle of the night and the first thing I would want to do was come home, but I wasn't ready. I'm sorry, I know I hurt you. But, I'm glad you grew up so strong. Just think, back then, you were so shy you would never think to interrupt me, and now look at you!" Lina teased as Hinata blushed. _'Some things never change.'_ She heard a bark of laughter and the Inuzuka boy said, "That's right! Hinata sure changed over the years, she's become so strong now." Beside him, the trench coat boy nodded.

"Shikamaruuuuu...I'm hungry. Can we go get food now?" The Akimichi boy whined. The pineapple boy sighed, "Troublesome. Well, Tenten, can we get food? You know Choji here won't stop until we do." _'Ahh, so that's the Nara clan's boy, huh?'_ "Oi, oi, Choji! You really should diet, you know! How on earth do you plan on getting a date if you stay so fa-" The blonde girl was stopped by the Nara's hand on her mouth before she could finish speaking. "Ino! Forget her, Choji, let's just go inside." Amused, Lina cleared her throat and said, "Well Tenten, let's go inside before we ALL starve." Looking up at Hinata, who had now stopped crying and was standing up straight, even if she was clutching Lina's arm, Lina smiled and motioned for them to go inside, giggling when she heard Tenten murmur "I was_ gonna_ suggest that, after Hinata stopped crying and all…" in a pouty voice. Thankfully, even if they noticed, no one pointed out the 3 chakra presences that could easily be felt surrounding the restaurant. But then again, it was relatively busy tonight, so it wasn't unfeasible for there to be other ninja walking about. Still, Lina was glad she didn't have to think up an excuse as to why she had 3 ANBU shinobi following her.

Inside Ichiraku's, the group sat down side by side, each ordering a single bowl of ramen, except Lina and Choji, who each ordered 5 bowls. You'd think after the giant meal she'd had for lunch Lina would be full, but it seemed that after all the excitement of the day, she was still as hungry as ever. As the group watched her inhale her food nearly as fast as the Akimichi boy sitting beside her, stunned, and in Ino's case, jealous, they listened to Tenten and Hinata's retelling of how they knew Lina. The group didn't really care at all about Tenten's story, as she'd only met Lina because she was lost. However, it was news to even Neji that Lina had been a babysitter for the main house of Hyuuga. Then, hearing that Lina was a part of the Sasaki clan, one that had for as long as any of them could remember, was perhaps even more secluded than the Hyuuga or Uchiha clans, the group stared once more at the girl gulping down her 5th bowl of ramen as if it were her first. How could this girl, so lively and carefree, be a part of such a stuffy and traditional clan? Little did they know that before she'd left, the clan had been far less pretentious, and that the family had actually been like a normal family. Little did they know, she was the cause of the clan's current conceited and unfriendly attitude to outsiders.

As they continued eating, Kiba and Ino, as Lina soon learned their names were, asked her various questions about travelling through the 5 nations. Of course, it was understandable that they would be curious, considering they were all still chunin (jonin in Neji's case, but still) and had almost no experience outside of Konoha and Suna. Lina spoke of her travels through Snow country, Lightning country, Wave country, Earth Country, and so on. The group seemed enthralled by her stories, even the owner and his daughter were interested. Finally, after telling them how she'd escaped a particularly nasty scuffle with Frost country ninja, she noticed just how shocked the group had become, making her quite self conscious. Finishing her story, she bent her head down and drank her soup, waiting for someone to fill the silence that had fallen. After a moment, Ino made her way over and eagerly stated how 'cool' she was and how amazing it must've been to travel. Offhandedly, Lina wondered if maybe she'd told a few too many tales, as it seemed like the group had become fixated on the idea of travelling away from the village for long periods of time. She hoped she hadn't unwittingly created a band of rogue ninja. Yes, her travels had been interesting, but she hadn't mentioned all the late nights alone, all the homesickness, all the nights she'd woken up crying out for a family that was miles and miles away. No, she hadn't mentioned any of that, because it would have spoiled the mood.

"Anyway, that's what happened why I was away from the village. So tell me, what's been going on? By the way Tenten, didn't you invite Gai?" Lina also noticed that Kakashi hadn't arrived either. While she was slightly disappointed, he DID say he'd think about it, not that he'd actually be there.

"Gai-sensei said he had something to do, so he couldn't make it."

"Oh. Well, this has been fun, but I think I'm going to head home. I have to get some sleep before tomorrow, I'm being tested."

"Tested? What do you mean?"

"Oh, it's something like a proficiency test, I guess. Kakashi-san is going to be testing me with a bell test, do you know what that is?"

"Oh yes! My beloved Sakura-san and her team had to pass that test when they were genin, and then again when Naruto came back from training with Jiraiya-sama!"

"Sakura, Naruto? Are they chunin like you?"

"They're part of Team Kakashi. Forehead-Sakura's a chunin, but Naruto's a genin." Ino pitched in. Lina quirked her eyebrow at the nickname. _'Forehead?'_

"Ah! B-but Naruto-kun's become so strong after coming back from his training with Jiraiya-sama. Even though he's a genin…..he's still...very strong." Hinata blushed at the mention of the boy's name, and her voice reached an octave higher than her normal pitch. Lina's eyes glinted mischievously, storing this information into her head before moving on. There would be time for teasing later, preferably when the boy in question was around so she could observe his reactions. Like a mother hen, Lina was very protective of both her girls, Tenten and Hinata. She still wasn't too sure how she felt about Neji, but she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt considering he was a Hyuuga and she knew that clan held social propriety and traditional values in the highest of standards.

"So, there's Sakura, Naruto...is there only 2 of them? Team Kakashi means that Kakashi-san heads the team, but there should still be 1 more right?" At this the group went quiet, except for Choji, who contently slurped away at his 7th bowl of ramen.

"There are 2 others, Yamato-taichou and Sai. Neither of them is part of the original team, but they joined a little while after Naruto-kun came back from his training with Jiraiya-sama." Hinata supplied quietly. Lina wondered who the 'original' team member was, but decided not to press, in case they had died or something.

After some more meaningless small talk, at which point Lina was beginning to feel more and more comfortable with the group, she decided it was time to go. She had decided before meeting with the group that after dinner she would go to a bar and see if she couldn't pick up a nice good looking shinobi to bring home and play with. Stretching herself, Lina stood up.

"Well, I guess I'm done. It was great meeting all of you, I'd love to be able to stay longer, but I should go home and get a good night's rest before my test tomorrow. But we should do this again! Wish me luck?" The rest of the group also stood up. Tenten and Hinata each gave Lina a hug, and then to her surprise, so did Ino. The blonde girl seemed to have taken a liking to her, which was a good thing since she wasn't sure how some of the rest of the group felt. Kiba seemed friendly enough, his ninken Akamaru also liked her, but Shino was a little difficult to read, as was Neji and Shikamaru. But they didn't seem to DISLIKE her, so she counted that as a plus. After giving the girls hugs, and petting Akamaru on his giant head (and then receiving a wet slobbery lick on her hands) she left Ichiraku, waving goodbye to the owner and his daughter. She headed home, deciding to change her outfit before heading back into town.

Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

At home, Lina quietly opened the door, not wanting to disturb Kurenai. Spotting her in the open space living room, she nodded to the woman and proceeded to her own room to change. Undressing herself and putting away her usual attire (the beige flower-y dress that she always wore), she sorted through her various clothing and decided to go with a light peach off-shoulder top and dark blue jeans that accentuated her butt quite nicely, accessorized with black heels. On her neck, she wore a necklace that Souta had given to her on their 4th date, so many years ago.

It was a simple yet elegant silver rose with a green crystal heart in the middle. Souta had told her that it was one of a kind, and the crystal had some power in it, although he never told her what that power was. She never took it off unless she knew there was a possibility of it being lost or recognized, in which case it would never be far from her person. Of course, she had long since moved on, but it seemed she couldn't bear to remove that necklace. It had come to be a reminder to her of how she had lost her teammates and the one she loved, and that she should never take things for granted, nor should she forget to think things through. With the life she led, being a shinobi, nothing was ever certain, as she had learned the hard way. That necklace served as a reminder to both live life to the fullest and never rush into things headlong, despite those two ideas seeming almost polar opposite from each other. Luckily, it also fit almost all her outfits.

Satisfied with her appearance, Lina looked at the time. 9:30, good. If it was too late she'd have trouble waking up in the morning but if it was too early she'd never get her target to go home, and she didn't really fancy the idea of spending hours trying to charm someone. But of course, her appearance wasn't complete just yet. Lina knew how she looked, and she wasn't shy about it. She knew she looked like a child, and she knew that she was a plain one at that. Not pretty, not curvy, not tall, not anything unique. But she could fix that. How? With a simple henge of course! She picked up her forehead protector, the ticket to let her in the club in case her henge didn't work and walked out of her room and out the door, waving goodbye to Kurenai. The woman didn't need to know what Lina did to get men, that would only lead to more questions.

Closing the door, Lina paused and looked around. Seeing the coast was clear, she cleared her throat and called out to her 3 musketeers. "Guys? Could you come here for a second?" 3 shadows appeared before her, much to her amusement. It seemed they were much friendlier now, despite still not saying a word to her.

"Ok, so I'm going to a bar, and I'm going to get laid tonight. You're welcome to stay as long as you like, I honestly don't care if you watch, I'm just letting you know so that in case you don't watch but still hear, you don't come bursting in when you hear noises. Anyway, I'm going to henge now, and this is going to be the form I stay in until I leave the guy's house, because yes, I will not be coming back until late." Lina didn't bother mincing her words, not really caring what the ANBU thought of her sexual activities, considering she was getting more and more fidgety by the second. Again, taking the silence as affirmation, Lina formed the hand signs and performed the henge, turning into a tall brunette with much nicer curves in comparison to the nonexistent ones the original Lina had. Lina had made the proportions for the henge equivalent to that of her clothes, which she had purposely bought a few sizes larger. Before the henge, her clothes had seemed a tad large on the girl, but after it looked like the clothes had been made for her. Performing a clone jutsu, Lina surveyed her clone, looking up and down to make sure the jutsu was done properly. Satisfied, she dropped the clone and walked towards town, feeling the 3 presences disappear behind her.

Nearing the club, Lina mentally stretched herself. It was time to bring out the wild animal in her.

Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

A shadowy figure observed a young girl come out of her apartment, dressed in an oversized top and jeans that were too long for her legs. After talking to 3 ANBU, she henged into a tall brunette and walked towards town. The shadowy figure walked into the light, a thumping sound accompanying him, which turned out to be a walking stick. The figure was an black haired elderly man whose face was half covered in bandages, as was his right arm. He wore a white shirt and black robe. His face was lined with wrinkles that came with age, and was marred with a cross on his chin, a scar he'd received as a young man. His face revealed nothing of his thoughts, simply wearing a contented look as he plodded down the street, thumping his cane as he went.

Upon reaching the end of the street, he quickly formed seals and teleported to an unknown location, where he was greeted by his army, all bowing down to him.

"Danzou-sama." He said nothing as he continued his journey to his bedroom, his mind thinking about the girl he'd seen. It was time to put his plan into action.

Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

The music from the club/bar could be heard from quite a few buildings away, and upon arrival Lina noticed that the warehouse style are was quite full. Lights flashing, she stumbled her way through the room, and sat down at one of the 2 bars. Ordering a drink, Lina flashed her forehead protector at the bartender when he looked at her oddly. After sipping her drink, Lina looked around the room, half listening to the conversations around her. Out of nowhere, 2 jonin came and sat down next to her, talking to each other.

After some time of her minding her own business and looking around the room, she noticed the conversation beside her had stopped. She felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning her head, she saw no one there, so she turned the other way, only to be met by a smirk from one of the two jonin who had been previously talking beside her. "Hey there." The man seemed like the typical cocky type, not bothering to remove his senbon from his mouth when speaking to her. He confidently wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "What's your name? I haven't seen you around before." Lina's inner self twitched her eyebrow in anger, but she calmly said, "Don't you know that it's polite to state your own name before asking for someone else's?"

At this the man smirked even wider, opting to lean closer to her, trapping her in his arms as he said, "Who said I wanted to be polite?"

Lina quirked her eyebrow at this, noticing his friend look slightly uncomfortable yet amused. Also, several young women, including some of the waitresses had begun to stare at the two, mostly in anger at Lina. Deciding she didn't mind the flirting, but definitely didn't want the unwanted attention from the girls, she pressed her hands against his chest.

"Shinobi-san, please get off me."

"Why, does it make you uncomfortable? And it's Genma, Shiranui Genma." He took out his senbon and leaned in closer until she could feel his breath on her cheek, and smell his shampoo.

"No, Genma-san. But, I do think that a few of those kunoichi over your shoulder seem to be trying to murder me with their eyes, and while I don't mind flirting, I'd really rather not being killed by crazy fans, especially not when I just came back to the village. Surely, you understand."

"Forget them. I'm paying attention to you, not them."

"And what do you mean 'came back to the village'?" Genma's friend piped in. A flicker of annoyance went across Genma's face at the interruption.

"Right, and as much as I appreciate that, you're also scaring away any potential bed friends I may be interested in." Lina decided to ignore the question Genma's friend had asked, despite knowing Genma was curious too. Suddenly Genma withdrew himself from her and laughed. "Wow, I'm here throwing myself at you and you want someone else? That's something new. Well, I told you my name, isn't it time you told me yours? This is Namiashi Raidou, by the way." Genma flicked his thumb behind him at his friend, who waved cheerily while laughing at the fact that his partner had just been shot down.

"Nice to meet both of you, I'm Hana." Lina deliberately picked a fake name to go with her fake appearance, going with a name she'd used back in Lightning country.

"Well, Hana, why don't you tell us your type? It's obviously not the cool silent type, maybe the cute boyish type like Raidou?" Genma's eyes glinted as his friend shoved him, muttering under his breath incoherently as he blushed. Lina's eyes softened, but she shook her head.

"Sorry boys, I'm not looking for a relationship. You, Genma-san, certainly aren't, but Raidou-san, it looks like you are, so I'm sorry, I'll have to say no." Raidou looked up, slightly disappointed. Who wouldn't be, looking at a beautiful girl in front of him? But Lina had a feeling she'd be getting to know these two a lot better, and she really didn't want to hurt someone who might end up being a friend. She could see herself being quite close to Raidou, he reminded her of her brother Kei.

Suddenly, her ears picked up on the beat of the music and she perked up. Grabbing Raidou's hand, she dragged him onto the dance floor, wrapping his arms around her waist as she slithered her own up his chest onto his shoulders and around his neck. Looking up at him, she noticed his blush deepen, and she smiled. She guessed that he wasn't much of a social creature, unlike his friend who was watching them from their seats. She decided to give this shy little boy of a man at least one good dance. Swaying her hips, she eased Raidou into moving himself to the beat of the music, slowly loosening him up. At first he kept his distance despite her trying to get closer, leaving a few inches between them, but he slowly moved closer to her, wrapping his arms more around her, and bringing one up to her upper back. In turn, she stepped towards him and placed her forearms on his chest, her face studying his as he concentrated on not touching her inappropriately and still keeping with the beat of the music. They swayed back and forth, him getting accustomed to their proximity, her making sure he was getting comfortable. They turned a few heads, well Lina did anyway. Her henged hips and curves caught the attention of a few men, and even though she kept her attention on her current partner, she stored their faces into her head for later.

As the song wound down, Raidou loosened his grip on her waist and began to blush profusely, stammering out a 'thank you'. Grinning to herself, Lina pulled him back against her and whispered in his ear, "I'm not done with you yet. Come on, let's keep dancing." Raidou hesitated for a second before Lina motioned for him to look behind him. Turning, he saw Genma waving his hands in a way that signalled, "Go on, you'll never get another chance like this, you lucky bastard." Turning back to Lina, Raidou sheepishly smiled and said, "Alright, another dance it is." "Right, but this time, you lead." Lina said calmly, loosening her grip on his shoulders and waiting for him to do something. Raidou tested this by pulling her a little closer, fitting her into his body the way only a woman could. Lina obliged, stepping towards him. This new song was slower than the last, so the close proximity was far less awkward. Raidou grew more confident with each measure, his hand reaching up to grip one of Lina's hand, and his other hand travelling down to the small of her waist. Of course, Lina kept a tight check on where he could or could not touch her, but he never tested those boundaries, thankfully.

They danced in a small circle, each becoming more and more comfortable with the other. What had started as a friendly gesture on Lina's part had turned into something much more intimate, and before she knew it she was starting to feel much closer to him than she'd felt towards anyone in a while. To Raidou, this was a dream come true. Of course, he didn't know that he was dancing with a henge, so to him this was incredible; a beautiful woman in his arms, dancing with him and making him so comfortable that he could actually dance like this, what more could a man ask for? But he knew she wasn't looking for something serious, and he respected that she had said so straight out, so he kept his emotions in check, just savoring the moment, saving every second of it to look back on later. Being a shinobi, and one that had seen much of the world, he had had no reason to believe in love, and those romance stories that civilian females always seemed to adore so much. He had never believed in the whole, "one passionate night with a stranger" story, dismissing it as a fairytale. Yet, here he was, experiencing it. Well, almost. He wasn't exactly going to have a PASSIONATE night with her, but this was certainly intense enough for him.

After the second song, Lina wiggled herself away from Raidou slightly, and smiled. "Thank you, Raidou-san. That was really nice. And see? You're so much more comfortable now!" Raidou smiled shyly and said, "Thank you, Hana-san. I haven't danced like that in a while." They walked back to Genma who had found some girl in a tight-fitting miniskirt to make out with, his senbon now stowed away in his pocket. Rolling her eyes, Lina ordered another drink and looked around. Several times, she caught the eyes of one man or another, but moved on, having not found her target just yet. Raidou was being chatted up by another girl who seemed to have taken an interest in him, and Lina smiled as she saw him stumble through a 'would you like to dance?' In some ways, he reminded her of Hinata.

Suddenly, she saw a young man on the other side of the room at a different bar. His face was cute, boyish yet not so innocent that she would feel bad for leaving him with only sex. Finishing her drink, she got up and walked over to the bar, and prepared to put her fool-proof plan into action. Her typical plan for getting a bed friend had 3 steps: get caught staring, 'accidental' touching, and getting too close. And with those three steps, she could turn any situation into flirting.

As she was walking toward the bar, she immediately spotted her secondary target, someone who would eventually need to go to the bar. Making a mental note, she slowed down her pace ever so slightly to time everything just right. Reaching the bar, Lina asked the bartender for a drink, and turned her back toward the counter, completely ignoring her target. She saw him look her up and down from the corner of her eye, and smiled. She turned her head towards him but not quite, pretending to survey the room and at the same time noticing his face bend down as he pretended to study his drink. Now, she was in an outright grin in her mind as she schooled her face into a calm expression. Finally, she looked at him, staring pointedly until he looked up, at which point she rewarded him with a shock expression, blush and a muttered apology. Step 1, complete. Shortly after, the drink came, and she turned back toward the counter, smiled a thank you and leaned in to get the drink. While extracting the drink, she made her elbow 'accidentally' knock into her target's hand, not hard enough that either of them would drop their drinks, but just so that they would both be startled. Step two, completely. Lina muttered another apology, pretending to brush away a strand of hair from her face. She saw her target smile, and she knew step 3 would complete the job. But first, her secondary target had to get a move on with that drink. And then, there it was. She felt a presence behind her. Unluckily, it seemed that her secondary target had no intention of pushing her, so when he brushed up against her back she stumbled forwards into her target's body, completing step 3, getting too close. Again, Lina apologized making her blush a deeper shade of red. Her target steadied her with his arms on her waist and smiled down at her. Damn, she hadn't realized he was so tall, he was practically a head taller than her, and she had henged into a 5'8 body!

"Hey there. I'm Kaede, why don't you have a seat?" He had dark brown hair, cut in a typical male haircut, and nice dark green eyes. His skin was slightly tanned, not at all like Kakashi-san's pale skin-_'Wait, what am I thinking?! Stop thinking about someone you don't know. Here's a perfectly good looking guy who seems nice. Stop it girl! If you keep this up, you might not get any tonight.'_ Subconsciously, Lina shook her head, which earned her a raised eyebrow from her would-be companion. She hastily turned back to her drink, her face heating up with embarrassment when she heard him chuckle beside her.

"Thanks, I'm Hana. Sorry about the stumbling and all."

"Oh no worries, I don't mind."

He introduced as a chunin who worked in the missions office helping out Iruka-sensei ('who?'). While they were talking, Lina made sure to only drink a little, wanting to be as sober as possible if she was to walk home. Also, halfway through the conversation she'd felt like someone was watching her. She couldn't tell where it was coming from, what with all the people mulling around, but there was a definite sense of being watched, which only escalated when she laughed at what Kaede-san said. Finally, the night began to wind down, and Lina decided to kick it up a notch. Leaning in, she whispered in Kaede's ear, "Why don't we go somewhere a little more private?" His eyes widened before he smirked. "Your place or mine?" "Yours."

They got up together, paid for their drinks, and Kaede slipped his arm around her shoulder drawing her near. She had felt dizzy with the thrill of the chase, but now it was time to get down to business. As soon as they got out, she felt 3 distinct presences and momentarily panicked, worried that Kaede would become suspicious. Luckily, he was just a tad too drunk to notice, but not so drunk that he was stumbling and slurring his speech. They made their way to his apartment, which turned out to be relatively close to Kakashi-san's as she recognized his building just a few doors down. As they got closer, Lina felt another presence, one that was different from her ANBU escorts, and this one was watching her. She recognized the feeling from the one in the bar, but when she tried to sense the chakra none was there. Of course, any good shinobi knew how to hide their chakra signature, so this worried Lina slightly. But that was soon forgotten as they reached Kaede's apartment.

_*****MATURE CONTENT BEGINS NOW. DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE NOT 18 OR OLDER OR WHATEVER THE LEGAL ADULT AGE IS IN YOUR COUNTRY. I WILL NOT BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOT READ THE WARNINGS OR WHO CHOOSE TO IGNORE THEM*****_

He turned the key in the lock and quickly pulled her in, slamming the door behind him and pushing her against it with a rough kiss. She responded immediately, noticing in the back of her mind that her 3 escorts had somewhat lengthened the distance between them and her, for which she was grateful. She didn't care if they watched, but she didn't really WANT them to. Bringing her thoughts back to the situation at hand, she was about to unbutton Kaede's shirt when he turned her around and smashed her against the door, bringing his mouth down her neck in hot kisses, both their breathing becoming more and more ragged. "Condom?" Kaede asked harshly. "No need." Lina replied. She had a jutsu for that. "Thank God." Kaede ground out.

He used his hands to bring hers up above her head, holding them in a grip with one hand as he brought the other down to the bottom of her shirt and lifted it up, pushing himself onto her. He tore off her shirt and twisted her back around, bringing their lips together again. Tongues entangled and she began unbottoning his shirt, nearly ripping off the buttons in need. As soon as it was off she ran her hand appreciatively across his chest, marvelling once again at the beauty of a well-built man. They broke their kiss and he began to trail kisses down her neck again, slowly working his way down to her shoulders, decollete, and then her chest, pausing slightly to stare at her chest. Lina had henged her chest into a C-cup, so that it wasn't ridiculously large for her body but not small either. As she stood panting, watching him look at her chest, her need for him heightened, and she grabbed his head, bringing it toward her in a hot searing kiss. She wrapped a leg around his waist, to which he responded by bringing the other one up too, cupping her bottom to keep her from sliding down. There they stayed, her gripping him for all she was worth, him rubbing himself onto her, both with their pants still on, and her with her bra still on, but not for long.

Kaede brought a knee down under Lina's bottom, steadying her with it as he went to take away the bra. After searching for what seemed like eternity, he broke his kisses and looked down at her, annoyed. "Where is it?" Lina looked up at him and smiled, "Front clasp." Kaede growled, something Lina would never have guessed he would do considering how young he looked, and said, "Fuck, that's hot." Pushing her higher up the wall so that her chest was align with his face, he opened the bra with his teeth, receiving a gasp from Lina when she felt them brush against her skin. Finally, it was off, and she was open to him. She looked down to see him looking at her hungrily and her stomach gave a lurch. They exchanged a glance before he picked her up like a bride and carried her to the sofa. Placing her gently, he buried his face in her neck, nipping and biting at her while trailing cool saliva down to her chest. He grabbed a nipple in he mouth and simultaneously bit and licked her, making her cry out at the sensation. Feeling him smirk, Lina reached up and grabbed his head, pushing it closer to her, wanting more of him. He reached up and grabbed her other breast and began massaging it, switching breasts in between so that both got equal treatment.

After having teased each nub so that they were hard and stood out, he began biting the underside of her breast, which he found turned out to be even more sensitive than her neck was. He licked and teased the area some more before trailing hot kissed down her abdomen and down to her hip. Agonizingly slowly he unzipped her jeans, and slid them off her, moaning at the sight of her panties, which were now dripping wet. But before he could get much further, Lina stretched her hands towards his waist and began unbuttoning him. As his pants slipped down to his ankles, she could see a prominent outline even on Kaede's dark blue boxers. Each stared at each other's parts before simultaneously reaching for each other, their private areas crashing into each other, and then rubbing and grinding. As they ground against each other, their breaths drew faster and sharper, each wanting to release as soon as possible but still wanting to savor the sensations. Finally, the need became too much and they ripped off the rest of their clothes and connected, Kaede plunging himself into her as Lina arched her back into him with a scream. Kaede was certainly large enough, and with the added benefit of Lina being small (she hadn't bothered to henge that _particular_ part of her), their union was intense.

"Fuck, you're so tight!" "You-you're so big! Ah!" Lina widened her eyes as he drove himself into her, reaching deeply. He continued thrusting into her, each time hitting her deeper and harder. The feeling was certainly good, but the one disappointment was that he either hadn't tried or hadn't wanted to find her special spot, the one place in every woman that made them see spots and feel white hot pleasure. But still, she felt a coil inside her tighten, which he seemed to have noticed as well as he began thrusting into her faster. "I'm close, oh God yes!" With a shudder, Lina felt herself unravel, and she threw herself onto Kaede, pushing him back so that she was now riding him, reaching new levels of deepness. She shook, gripping onto him tightly as he continued to drive himself into her a few more times before he too released. After coming down from the high of an orgasm, Lina gently kissed Kaede's cheek, wondering if he was done already. She still had a couple more rounds to go in her, so she seriously hoped he wasn't.

After a couple of kisses, Kaede responded, kissing her back and picking her up, him still in her, although he wasn't quite as hard anymore. He repositioned her on top of him and said, "Your turn." with a smile. Lina, moaning from the feel of him moving in her, steadied herself by placing her hands on his shoulder and began to move up and down. Because of the over-sensitivity of having just come, Lina was soon tightly gripping his shoulders and moaning and she moved her hips, his hands steadying her and sometimes moving her side to side. Shortly they both came again, Lina arching herself into Kaede's chest and throwing her head back after he gave her a particularly hard thrust before releasing. Panting, they both sat there for a few moments before Lina slowly lifted herself off of him, groaning at the sensation of the fluids and him leaving her. She clung to Kaede's chest relaxing for a moment.

Kaede gently picked her up bridal style again and brought her to what looked like his bedroom, although she couldn't be too sure considering she was slightly dazed. He lay her on top of the bed and crawled on top of her, kissing her gently all over her face, instead of harshly and greedily as he'd done before. She relaxed into his care, allowing him to touch her and kiss her sweetly. He made his way down her body, but before he got past her waist she felt him leave. Lina opened her eyes to see him go into the bathroom, where she heard running water from a sink. After a few moments, he came back and she saw that he was carrying a towel.

"Lay down." Kaede said, and Lina complied, wondering what exactly he was thinking. It didn't take long for her to figure it out when she felt the rough nubby texture of the towel against her folds. Briefly, she wondered why he was being so nice to someone he was only sleeping with once, but then she figured it out. After he had deemed her 'clean' again, Kaede brought his mouth down to her most secret place and began tracing the area just outlining her entrance. At once Lina bucked her hips, surprised by the feeling. He traced her fold, relishing in her taste as her liquids began flowing again. After making her nice and wet again, he stiffened his tongue and plunged it into her entrance, steadying her hips with his hands as he began to truly dig and lick the area he had already entered twice. Bringing one of his hands up to her mouth, he stuck three fingers out and tapped her chin. Lina opened her mouth and began licking them, coating each finger with her own saliva while getting hot from the fact that he was coating HER with HIS saliva down there. Kaede extracted his fingers from her mouth, but instead of immediately plunging them into her, he distracted her by beginning to lick her clitoris, another special bundle of nerves that made her gasp in pleasure. Feeling the jerk, Kaede immediately plunged all 3 fingers into her, seeing as she was already loosened up from the 2 times before. The caused an even greater jerk, and Lina began grinding herself into his mouth, her moans growing louder with each thrust and lick. She brought one hand down to his head, gripping his hair harshly as the other hand covered her mouth, trying to muffle the screams. Finally, Kaede thrust his finger while at the same time gently biting down on her clitoris, eliciting a wide eyed silent scream with a back arch as Lina came in his mouth. He licked as much of her as he could, but some still spilled onto the mattress. Finally, he lifted his head up and looked at her, the pale moonlight streaming from the window casting a beautiful glow about her.

He repositioned himself on top of her and asked, "Can you go again?" Lina looked up at him and smiled, "Ok, but only once. I need to go home after this round." He was certainly good in bed, but she was still slightly disappointed. A few times in between thrusts she had thought to herself how Kakashi-san might feel in her before trampling on that thought and focusing on the feelings she had right at the moment. "Deal." Before she could think any further on the subject, he plunged himself into her once more, mentally congratulating himself on getting it on with such a beautiful girl. He knew he was good looking, but she was drop dead gorgeous (in his humble opinion, which had only increased tenfold with the things she'd made him feel in sex). They rocked back and forth, steadily increasing the intensity as their need for release grew. Lina's head had begun to turn back and forth on the bed, each turn accompanied by a moan. Finally, she couldn't turn anymore, and just positioned her head toward the window, looking outside yet barely registering anything she saw. The feeling of pleasure was still there when Kaede thrusted into her, but she was beginning to feel slightly more awake. Deciding that she'd endure it for the sake of the previous 2 times plus his good use of his mouth, she brought his mouth to her in an attempt to feel the same intensity he was obviously feeling. He immediately began kissing her chest, biting lightly on her nipple while fingering her clitoris with his other hand. And there it was, that same intense pleasure he had just given her. With one last moan she came, feeling him do so not long after with a sharp intake of breath.

They lay for a few minutes, basking in the afterglow of their union before Lina began to untangle herself from Kaede. He reached around her and lazily asked, "Can't you stay? It's pretty late." Lina looked down at the boy and said, "Nope, sorry. I need to get home, I've got a long day tomorrow. Thanks for tonight, you were great." She gently kissed his forehead and made her way to the front door, picking up her clothes and then walked to the shower. After taking a nice hot shower, she dressed herself, and slipped out the door. Thankfully, her henge hadn't worn off just yet, she'd only expected it to last 3 times, not 4. Although, she supposed, the '3rd' one didn't really count...did it? Shaking her head she closed the door and discreetly looked around. Seeing the coast was clear, she henged back into herself. True, her clothes seemed a little loose, but with a little rolling up of pants and a little refitting of clothes, she looked just fine. She made her way home, once again feeling her 3 escorts behind her. She wondered if they'd listened to her, and what they thought of her now. _'Not some sweet innocent girl anymore, eh?'_

Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

Kakashi's POV

I had just finished reading the new Icha Icha volume when I looked out my window. I noticed that there was a young boy standing outside his apartment with a girl. I didn't really pay attention to the boy, but the girl seemed pretty cute, wearing an orange shirt and pants. What's that color called, pear? Peach? Dunno, something fruity. I sighed and turned away, young love. Then I remembered! I'd forgotten to work on those papers Godaime-sama had wanted! Shit, I'll be in a load of trouble if she doesn't get them tomorrow. I got started.

Some time later, as I was about to turn in, I noticed something from the corner of my eye. It was that girl again, the one I'd seen with the orange fruity-named-colored shirt. She was walking out of the apartment. I watched her for a second and then I saw it. She'd henged! Well, in this case she'd 'un-henged'. It was Lina-san! But what was Lina-san doing in some random guy's house? And why was she henged into someone else? Why was she wearing that shirt that was MUCH too revealing for her? Wait, why was I so concerned about her? It's not like it's any of my business, and it's not like I'm one to talk, considering my reputation as the village pervert. But still….certain things beg questioning. My eyes followed her as she headed away from the apartment. Just as I was about to turn away, I saw her shirt slip and her entire bra back came into full view. Purple, lacy with a racerback and...what's this? NO CLASP?! That can only mean one thing….front clasp. Oh God. I turned quickly away from the window and lay down in my bed, trying desperately not to think about all the things I could do with a front clasp bra. Then I remembered, tomorrow (well, today, since it's past midnight) I'll need to see her. Great.

-End-

Oookay! I know I know, I said I'd make it dinner + bell test, but I decided to split it consider how this chapter gave you a lemon. True, it was a lemon with a random off character that probably won't appear again anytime soon, but still. Ooh, and I gave you a bit of foreshadowing with the whole Danzou-sama thing, eh? I'm currently writing the next chapter which will definitely include Icha Icha/bell test/ninken AND the start of Danzou's plan. What is it? Find out more next time! Please review, I adore those who do, and I could potentially love you too! XD damn I can't do poetry :P but please please review. Thanks!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

March-04-13

8:09 AM

UPDATE! Ok, so for those of you who may have read this already, I have made some changes. At first, I'd made this chapter very very mature, to the point that Kakashi and Lina got together quite quickly. But after posting it and thinking on it, I decided to come back and change it. So, for now, no lemon or lime, just lots of sexual tension, at least, in the story's 'real life'. You'll get what I mean as you read on. I will however be making Kakashi have a rather special 'personal' problem that he has to deal with towards the end of this chapter.

Aaaaand here's the second chapter I promised. Just an update: I have officially changed the category from T to M cuz of last chapter's lemon and the special situation I give Kakashi in this chapter. Hopefully nothing is too ooc, but if it is please let me know! As always, please review!

Oh, and I would like to thank Helli once more for replying to my 'important notice' (which I've since deleted cuz I hate when authors post stuff like that and don't remove it haha), he/she gives me the confidence to keep going with each chapter :)

**Please note that this chapter contains mature material. I am going to rate this M-MA, so unless you are at least 18 years old or whatever the legal adult age is in your country, do not read the highlighted parts. I have made the rest of the story as detailed as possible so that you won't be missing much except the lime-ish material. (not really lime, but close in my books)**

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Sasaki Lina is 29. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: Sasuke is back, but the Pain arc is still going to happen, as is the rest of the stuff not involving Sasuke (including Shinobi Alliance arc! can't wait to see how that turns out). I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?) So basically, this begins in the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime (eps 144-151). Enjoy!

Chapter 8

The next morning Lina was abruptly awoken by the shrill ring of her alarm. Having only gotten a few hours of sleep, she was a little woozy, but she didn't have a hangover so that was always a plus. She got ready, taking a long hot shower to loosen up her muscles and draw the sleep out of her body before padding toward the kitchen. She walked into the kitchen and saw Kurenai already sitting down on the table with a cup of tea in her hand. _'Early bird.'_ "Good morning, Kurenai-san." "Brown eyes were met with blood red ones and Kurenai quietly said, "Morning. Breakfast? I made extras." Lina poured herself a cup of tea and sat down. "Thank you, I'm running slightly late for my bell test with Kakashi-san." She ate in silence as Kurenai watched. Neither spoke for a while. Lina finished her breakfast and cleaned her plate before heading out. "Good luck." Lina waved cheerily, her insides twisting uncomfortably. Would it always be this awkward between them?

Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiine

Kurenai's POV

As I studied Lina-san, I noticed she seemed slightly more cheerful this morning. She'd come in late last night, and I knew of only one thing that she could have been doing that would keep her late. She didn't SEEM like the type to sleep around, but then again you never could tell these days. Besides, a girl had needs, even I knew that. Although I didn't really have that issue, being a genjutsu specialist. What most people didn't realize about genjutsu was that it had some very…._practical_ uses in every day life. Being able to feel pleasure in any way you'd like, given to you by whomever you chose, and changing the scenes in your head was certainly quite satisfying, especially if you were a pregnant woman who couldn't have sex while carrying a child. But nevermind that. I wondered who Lina's type was, to sleep with I mean. I had seen her talking to Kakashi yesterday, and they had seemed pretty friendly. I'd even thought of what it would be like to have them together, considering Kakashi truly did need someone to care for him, and Lina did seem like she could be that girl. But after seeing her last night…maybe it was just my overthinking. But no. I couldn't let this opportunity slide. If Kakashi was going to have any luck in love, he wouldn't get it by just being her friend. No, I'd have to do something to set them up. Maybe a little spying in their proficiency test today? No, Kakashi would see right through that, and then the idea would be over before it began. If this was going to work, neither of them could know until I was sure they liked each other. And yes, I would make SURE they liked each other. Lina was getting up to leave.

"Good luck." Lina turned back with a slightly strained smile and I realized I'd been silent for the whole meal. Damn, and I needed to be her friend for this plan to work.

Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

Lina made her way toward the training fields, rolling her shoulders to loosen up her muscles slightly. When she got there, there was no one in the field, so she started stretching. She felt the 3 familiar chakra signatures amid the trees surrounding the training field and wondered how long they would be around. After stretching herself enough, she lowered herself to the ground and began to meditate. She felt the wind on her cheek, lightly brushing against her skin and breathed in deeply. And then, she smelled it. A faint scent of musk with a hint of cologne but just enough to tell her that it was a man's body wash. The wind had brought it to her, and with that knowledge she turned her head and opened her eyes. She saw nothing, but she knew he was out there. "Come out." A shadowy figure emerged out of the forest and walked straight for her. She caught sight of silver hair and a familiar slouch, and breathed a sigh of relief she didn't realize she'd been keeping.

"Yo." Lina raised her eyebrows and half smiled. Kakashi gave an eye crinkle and asked, "How did you know I was there?" Lina tapped her nose and said, "I smelled you. NOT...not that you smell bad or anything...it's just that I have a ninken, so my nose is better than most."

At this Kakashi stopped. "You have a ninken? How?"

"What do you mean, how? The same way as normal? Get a contract, sign in blood, yada yada?"

"No, I mean, it's just. Well, I have ninken too. Except, I have 8." At this Lina's eyes bulged. "EIGHT?!" Kakashi nodded rather proudly. "How can you have eight?!"

Kakashi simply said, "I raised them from when they were pups, and taught them to talk. Well, only 1 of them knows how to talk really well, the others kind of use him as an interpreter. How do you have a ninken? Each summon-animal is supposed to only be contracted to a single summoner."

Lina nodded her head slightly and said, "Well, my ninken is slightly different from yours I guess. For one thing, Dai-chan's been in the family forever. He's the boss ninken that is only given to the eldest child of the first born of the Sasaki clan, which you know I belong to. He's been my ninken since...well since I became a genin. It was sort of my graduation present from my parents. He's a golden retriever, but he can grow or shrink his size when necessary."

Kakashi was surprised to say the least, but he cleared his thoughts. "Right. Well, that's really interesting, but we do still have to test your skills, remember? I'd love to just stay here and chat, but we have work to do." At this Lina straightened her back. "Do you know what a bell test is?" She nodded. "Good. I will give you…2 hours. You can do whatever you want to get this bell." Kakashi held out a silver bell with red string attached to it. "Remember, aim to kill. Of course, your ANBU escorts won't let you kill me, and I doubt you'll get even close-" He watched Lina's eyes harden. "- but aiming to kill is the only way you'll get this. Got it?" Lina nodded again. "Ok. Now, st-" "Wait. How about we make this interesting?" Kakashi stopped. "How?"

"If I win, which I will, you have to show me where the book store is that sells Icha Icha. I really do need to update my collection." Kakashi quirked a smile under his mask. "And if I win?" Lina thought for a second. "If you win, which you won't, I'll treat you to dinner." At this Kakashi nearly gave an outright smile. Dinner versus spending time with her, that included Icha Icha? It was a win either way. "Deal." They shook on it and dropped into fighting positions. Immediately Kakashi could tell that she had some holes in her stance. He observed her for a moment longer before he said, "Start." He lifted his forehead protector to reveal his sharingan, much to Lina's shock. She stared at him for a second, realizing she'd have to accommodate the stupid eye techniques that came with the eye. She'd have to ask him about it later, right now she had to win this fight.

A flash of metal flew towards him and he deflected the 3 shuriken she'd flung his way. Looking up, he saw that she had disappeared. Good. First rule of fighting was always to conceal your presence. He couldn't feel her, so she must've been hiding her signature. He turned his head. Left, right, up, nothing. That only left…down! He jerked his head to the ground trying to determine if she was hiding underneath him. Nothing. Where was she? Suddenly a shadow whipped through the forest and Kakashi threw a kunai at it, receiving 2 in return.

Lina watched from under the cover of the trees as her tester looked in all directions. She nearly let out a giggle when she saw him nearly jump out of his skin looking down at the ground. Underground? No, her techniques called for mid to long range battles, she could never do something so close. He should have known that from watching her battle before. She felt the wind pick up and hastily ran through the forest, not wanting him to pick up her scent. Since she now knew he was also a ninken summoner, she had to assume that all her openings were now his as well. If his nose was any good, he'd be able to smell even the slightest trace of her, and she wasn't about to let him turn her trick against her. But in her haste, it seemed she'd been unable to conceal herself, as a kunai flashed towards her, just barely missing her by inches. She flung 2 back at him before cursing herself in her head. Why, oh why, did she bother? Now he KNEW where she way. Oh well, time to put her plan into action. It wasn't foolproof, but it was worth a shot.

Silently, she formed a series of hand seals and made 2 water clones. She hadn't learned how to make shadow ones just yet, as that was a jonin-level jutsu, but she'd learned how to make Water clones while staying in the Hidden Mist. As 2 clones appeared, she made them disappear off into the forest, each smelling and holding the same amount of chakra as her so that he wouldn't be able to tell the difference until he got up close. They positioned themselves in Kakashi's blind spots, adjusting when he moved slightly. Lina watched her opponent stiffen and smell the air. He'd noticed something was off. She took out a single weapons scroll, knowing the clones were watching her and doing the same. She saw him forming handseals lightning fast and 2 kage bunshin materialized. But before they could do anything, she and her clones jumped out of the forest and unfurled the scrolls together.

"Triple threat!" Lina yelled as she and her clones formed a triangular barrier surrounding the clones and original. Weapons rained down from all sides, and while the dust cleared Lina waited to see the verdict. Her eyes widened as she saw a log in place of the original and ground her teeth. _'When did he…?'_ She quickly faced the trees behind her, walking backwards until she was back to back against her clones, each facing a third of the surrounding area. She sniffed the air, trying see if she could smell him out again, but it seemed that he'd learned his lesson the first time. There was no trace of him, and she she was already a half hour down, and only an hour and a half left to go. She nodded to her clones, and they dispersed into the forest, the original doing the same. Now was not the time for waiting, she had to finish this.

Stealing through the forest, she sensed her chakra signatures, neither disappearing, meaning he hadn't caught them yet. Where the hell was he? Out of nowhere she felt an unfamiliar chakra try to force its way into her body. Smirking, she clapped her hands and concentrated her chakra. "Release!" The genjutsu was dispelled, and she immediately felt Kakashi's presence behind her. Whipping her body around, she saw him stiffen. Before he could say anything, she said, "Shinobi tactic number 2: Genjutsu. Ne, Kakashi-san?" She winked at him before hardening her stare and throwing a kunai his way. He easily dodged it and chuckled. "Well, I didn't exactly want to start off with shinobi tactic one, where's the fun in that?" He vanished and appeared a second later right in front of her, throwing a punch that she nearly received, only blocking at the last second. He was strong, and very fast. Unfortunately for her, he was excellent in close fights, so she had to find a way to put some distance in between them. Blocking and defending rather than fighting, she found herself slowly backing up until she was up against a tree. _'Crap!'_ Lina ducked and weaved away from Kakashi as he threw a hard punch, making a slight dent in the tree she'd been up against. She threw a few shuriken his way and disappeared into the leaves as he deflected them.

"You know, you're never going to get that bell if you don't come closer." Kakashi chuckled. Both of Lina's clones responded by laughing, confusing Kakashi's senses. The clones both leapt in front of Kakashi, battling him in Taijutsu as the original watched. She was enthralled by his fluidity, his movements, while strong, were almost like he was dancing right there in the middle of the forest. Even with his sharingan revealed, giving him a rough appearance, he was beautiful. Shaking herself out of her daze she saw that one of the clones had been dispelled, the other one close to going itself. She mentally prepared for her new attack plan. Unrolling a weapons scroll, she launched another barrage of weapons toward Kakashi just as he killed off her last clone. He leapt out of the way, jumping 3 times to get out of range.

She formed another water clone and nodded to it. Silently, the clone stole through the forest until it was on the opposite side, directly behind Kakashi, hiding. Using her forehead protector around her neck, Lina reflected the sun's rays off of it to signal the start of the attack. Lina jumped out of her cover and formed the same seals as the ones she'd used in her battle right before entering the village. Forming a wave of water, she brought it crashing down on Kakashi, using both hands to steady the water and keep him from dodging it. "Water Style: Suffocating Wave Jutsu!" She made sure to leave a small pocket of air and motioned her clone to take over. The clone leapt out of the forest and brought its hands to the waves as Lina dropped her own and formed another set of seals, this time for wind style. Being a part of the Sasaki clan, she had the genetic affinity toward water, as all their attacks were water based. But as for herself, she had a natural affinity towards wind. And so, with Kakashi distracted, she formed a small harmless tornado in her hand and pushed it towards Kakashi, dipping under the water into the small air pocket she'd left, seemingly for him to breathe. With the weight of the water crashing down on him, Kakashi almost didn't register the breeze he felt on his leg as the mini-tornado gently yet swiftly pulled the bell out of his belt and drifted it towards Lina. But before it could fully reach her, Kakashi had substituted himself with a log and grabbed the bell out of the tornado. He stood back up, adjusting the bell in his pocket and looked at her, smiling under his mask. In turn, she released the clone and the water crashed down to the ground, soaking both their feet.

"Almost, but not quite."

They stood in front of each other, staring the other down. Lina swiftly raced towards him, holding a kunai in her hand, storing her scroll away for later. They met in the middle, metal clashing against each other, and she stared into his sharingan eye. She smiled sweetly before throwing herself back and summoning a giant spiked ball with a chain and metal handle. Swinging it over her head, she released the chain and allowed it to grow in length, reaching Kakashi and nearly hitting him if he hadn't jumped out of the way. Kakashi's eyes widened as he watched the small girl hurl the giant ball around her head and towards him again. At first he'd thought she was strong like Sakura or Tsunade, but then he saw a glint of purple fighting chakra on the handle and realized it wasn't her strength. But he knew that with her using chakra, she wouldn't last long, considering she was already panting moderately heavily. He himself was getting out of breath, what with all the dodging and fighting off clones. But, no time to think. Kakashi jumped out of the way and was about to disappear again when he realized she'd disappeared herself. As quickly as she'd come, she was gone.

Lina ran deeper into the forest, trying to regain her breath. There was only an hour left. If she didn't hurry she'd never get the bell in time. But as she thought harder, she realized she'd lost track of him again. _'Damn!'_ But she had no time. Deciding to pull out all the stops, she bit down on her thumb, formed a hand seal and said, "Kuchiyose no jutsu!" Dai-chan appeared with a small puff. "What is it Lina-chan?"

"Dai-chan, I need you to track someone. There should be 4 presences within 50 metres. The one I'm looking for has a slight musky smell with a bit of male body wash."

"Lina-kun, what's wrong? Are you being attacked again?"

"No, Dai-chan, I'm doing a test. I need to find my tester again cuz I stupidly lost him while trying to get away. Please, Dai-chan?" She didn't bother correcting his 'Lina-kun' jab.

"Yes yes. Hold on. Musky smell with a bit of male body wash, what the hell kind of description is that? You're lucky I'm the boss of the ninken, any other ninken wouldn't be able to find what you were looking for." Daisuke grumbled as he sniffed the air. Lina smiled.

"Yeah yeah, Dai-chan is the best. You know I love you more than anything. Now, have you found him?" Daisuke sniffed once more closing his eyes to trace smell. Then, he popped his eyes wide open and yelled, "BEHIND YOU!"

Out of nowhere, Lina felt a chakra signature and instinctively blocked the oncoming kicks and punches. Daisuke leapt out of the way, watching the two shinobi fight. The boy who'd come out of nowhere had silver hair, he observed. He remembered a few of his fellow ninken had a master with silver hair and he wondered if it was the same person. If it was, Lina wouldn't have an easy time. But then again, she was strong too. And if she needed it, Daisuke was willing to help her in any way possible. He'd grown to care for the girl, after caring for her since she was a genin, and then when she left the village as a chunin.

Lina blocked and kicked out, trying to keep up with Kakashi's movements, but he was slowly winning the battle again. Finally, he brought a punch down towards her face, connecting with the wood behind her as she once again found herself trapped under him. "Shinobi tactic number 1: Taijutsu." Kakashi said quietly as Lina panted. They stood there for a moment, Lina catching her breath and Kakashi letting her. He'd noticed the dog and was itching to ask about him, but then he'd noticed their close proximity. Lina, leaning on the tree, chest heaving into his own as he leaned his body weight into the fist that was still connected to the tree trunk.

As for Lina, it took her a moment longer to realize how close they were, but when she did, her breathing had slowed down quite a bit. They were connected from the chest down, their faces inches away from each other. She stared up into the sharingan, feeling his breath on her face through the mask. Being so much taller than her, Kakashi was practically leaning on top of her rather than in front of her. Lina's face dropped down to face his chest, a hot blush beginning to form. But mid-blush, she caught sight of her target, the silver bell on his waist. Deciding she wouldn't let him show her the final shinobi tactic (ninjutsu), she pretended to hesitantly wrap her arms around him, not getting too close to the bell just yet. She felt his body stiffen and she looked up. She knew the sharingan could see through all deception, so she pretended that she was too shy to look in his face, instead looking over his shoulder, or at his neck, allowing a blush for form over her face. She dipped her head down again and slowly ran her hands down Kakashi's chest and back. Hey, if she was going to pretend, she might as well enjoy it. Slowly she brought herself closer to him, pressing herself closer to his body until they were now flush together. Then, with a swift motion, she grabbed the bell and simultaneously released and pushed Kakashi away.

Kakashi reeled back, shocked. His mind was still slightly in overdrive from the way she was touching him before. Of course, as a shinobi he knew that there was always a meaning to something, and you had to look underneath the underneath to see it, but the other part of his mind, the part filled with Icha Icha was beating the shinobi part down with a stick. But then the moment was over, and she'd pushed him away. Immediately he felt disappointment, but then he saw something silver in her hands. The bell. Crap. He looked up at her face, watching a bright smile cross her face as she waited for him to realize what had happened. _'So...none of that was real, huh? Damn, I need to get out more. I can't believe I lost.'_

"I win, Kakashi-san." Lina couldn't help but gloat a little. Sure, she was disappointed that she'd let him go, she'd certainly felt the loss in her body, but on the other hand, she'd won the battle. She'd won, against Sharingan no Kakashi, the Copy Ninja himself! And for that, she was thrilled. Besides, even if she'd felt a momentary joy from the connection they'd almost shared, she knew she couldn't allow herself to actually feel anything for this man. True, he was mysterious, and incredibly handsome from what she could tell, and strong, and muscular without being beefy, but she couldn't, she couldn't fall for him. She felt her necklace on her neck, moving up and down as she breathed. She'd lost Hanaki, Aoi, Souta, because she'd cared and gotten careless, wanting to believe that it wasn't fate that had killed them, that it was just bad luck. But in the end, she knew that it was her fault, all of them. She knew that she was to blame for being so emotional. She would never get so emotional again. If she was in need of connection, she could find it in a bar, like she'd done last night with Kaede. But while she was thinking of all of this, she revealed nothing, instead keeping her smile and guard up.

Kakashi gave an eye crinkle and scratched the back of his head. "Kunoichi seduction technique number 1 huh? Distraction. Good job, I can't believe I fell for it."

"Actually yes, but I'm surprised you knew that. And thanks." Suddenly a bark of laughter rang out and both shinobi looked towards the source. Both had forgotten that Daisuke was still around. Lina motioned for him to come over and introduced him.

"Dai-chan, this is Hatake Kakashi-san. He's my tester. Kakashi-san, this is my clan's ninken, Daisuke, boss of all ninken." Kakashi knelt down and reverently said, "A pleasure, Daisuke-sama." "Hmph, nice to meet you too, Kakashi. I've heard quite a bit about you from Pakkun and the rest. You've treated them well." Daisuke was pleased with the respect this human showed, much unlike his own summoner. He shot a look at Lina, expressing his displeasure at her lack of propriety, to which she stuck out her tongue. She'd long since become more than just a summoner to him, and despite their constant bickering he treated her like one of his pups. The bond between a summoner and a summons could be either friendly or antagonistic, but to Daisuke and Lina, they both felt more about each other than just the typical bond. Daisuke held family and bonds in the highest of respect, and he could see that Kakashi did so too. From what he'd heard from his fellow ninken, the boy had gone through life miserable. His father dying, his teammates, his sensei, it seemed like life had deliberately dealt him a bad hand. And with no one to care for him, Daisuke knew that Kakashi and Lina were more similar than either of them knew just yet. He wanted both of them to be happy, Lina because he cared for her, and Kakashi because he was making his own ninken unhappy. But, Daisuke also knew through his wisdom that came with age that meddling would only go so far. They had to want to be together. But then again, with the situation he'd just seen, and the faint trace of arousal he'd smelt from Kakashi, maybe it was time he meddled.

As Daisuke was thinking, Lina went on. "Oh, Kakashi-san, there's no need to call him 'sama'. He's just a grumpy old dog, ne, Dai-chan?" Lina winked. Daisuke grew 4 times bigger until he was towering over Lina and bellowed, "NO RESPECT! I help you out, and this is what you say to me?!"

Lina winced before waving her hands, "Hai, hai. Dai-chan is the best! Dai-chan is the coolest! Blah blah blah." She smiled in a sickly sweet manner. Kakashi just stared at the two, amazed by their interactions. Even his own with his ninken had never been so lively. He watched them banter, noticing how Daisuke, although appearing very rough, was actually quite gentle to his summoner.

Daisuke shrank back to his normal size, his fake anger now dissipating. Lina suddenly thought of something. "Ne, Kakashi-san, may I meet your ninken?" Kakashi smiled and nodded, forming the signs and summoning his pack of 8. Out of the thick smoke emerged 8 ninken, 6 surrounding a large bulldog and the last sitting on top of it. The one sitting on top of the bull dog lifted its paw and said, "Yo, Kakashi." Lina's eyes widened. She saw that each dog was wearing a vest with a logo on it. As well, one was wearing sunglasses! But before she could say anything, the dogs immediately descended upon Daisuke and began licking him and wagging their tails in greeting.

"Daisuke-sama! Daisuke-sama! What are youuuu doing here?" The dogs whined as they rubbed up against him.

"Hello, everyone. I was summoned by my summoner. Look, there she is there." Daisuke pointed his paw at Lina, and the pack turned their heads toward the girl. Suddenly, she felt very self conscious. Wrapping her arms around herself and giving a shy smile, she said, "Hi. I'm Lina." The pack stared her up and down, none making a move. Lina started biting her lip nervously, wondering what exactly they were thinking. She'd never really cared before that Daisuke was the boss of all the ninken, but it seemed that now that she was in front of some of his subordinates, she felt rather plain and unworthy of being his summoner.

Just as she was thinking about this, a tan colored dog with floppy brown ears, a white snout, and whisker marks came up to her and began sniffing her ankles. Looking down, she noticed that he was motioning her to bend down. Looking back up at Kakashi, Lina shot him a questioning look, which he replied with a nod, his arms now crossed over his chest casually. Lina bent down and was almost about to stick her hand out for him to smell before she remembered something from a long time ago. The first time Lina had met Daisuke, she'd stuck her hand out for him to sniff, thinking that, like normal dogs, he'd sniff her and then lick the hand. Of course, being a ninken, and a boss one at that, he was annoyed and proceeded to bite her. From then on, she knew never to stick her hand out to a ninken. So now, instead of doing so, she held still and allowed him to come to her. She waited for him to stick his nose under her arm and wiggle in slightly before she moved to pet him.

"Hey, there, what's your name?" He looked up at her and then at Kakashi. Kakashi said, "His name's Guruko." With Guruko's apparent acceptance of Lina, the rest of the pack came up to her and began sniffing her, familiarizing themselves with their head ninken's summoner. One by one, they each let her pet them, although Pakkun seemed insistent on letting her touch his paw, which she admitted was extremely soft for a ninken. After getting to know each other, the ninken went to 'play' with Daisuke, rolling on the ground and chasing each other. Kakashi sat down beside her and watched them.

"You know, Guruko is one of the sweeter dogs in the pack. He has a very keep sense of smell, but not in the ordinary sense. He can smell a person's personality, kind of. So, if he likes someone, the rest of the pack trust his instincts and will like the person too." Lina looked at Kakashi. He was speaking in a more intimate tone, far more serious and less casual than his usual manner, and she felt honored. She somehow had the feeling that he didn't open up to people very often. Turning back to look at the dogs, she said, "You trained them really well. I still can't believe you have so many dogs, how on earth can you handle all of them?! I have trouble with just Dai-chan." She heard Kakashi chuckle beside her and she smiled. He had a nice laugh, deep and calming, yet warm. _'Stop it, Lina! You made your decision 12 years ago, and you've kept to it since. Now, one laugh from some guy makes you lose all that resolve?! Snap out of it.'_

"Oh right, I've been meaning to ask. Why do you call him Dai-chan?"

"Ha! Cuz he hates it, why else? No, it's cuz, well I find that calling him Daisuke is just so formal, and calling him Dai-kun or just Dai would sound wrong in my head. So Dai-chan it is! Besides, he calls me Lina-kun, so it's all good."

"Oh." Lina stole another glance at him before shaking her head. He really wasn't much of a talker. And then she remembered something. "So, Kakashi-san. Since I won the fight, can you show me the store where you bought your Icha Icha?"

Kakashi looked down at her and smiled. "Sure. Now?" Lina nodded and called to the ninken. "Oi, Dai-chan! I'm going to go with Kakashi-san to get some stuff, ok? You play nice." The dogs stopped their games and looked over at their respective summoners. Daisuke's deep voice rumbled, "What? More books? Honestly, I don't understand how you can fill your head with such garbage. Those things you call books aren't literature! And you, Kakashi! How can you read such things?" Both humans looked at each other and smiled sheepishly. "Let's just go, shall we?" "Right."

Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

As the two humans walked away, Kakashi's ninken looked at each other. They were all thinking the same thing. They all knew how lonely and broken their summoner was, and how much Daisuke-sama worried about his own summoner's loneliness, having shared many stories back in their own dimension. And now, seeing their summoner walking away together with their boss ninken's summoner, sharing the same interests, becoming friends, they couldn't help but think if maybe mating season had begun for the young humans. The 7 ninken looked at Pakkun, their leader, begging him with their eyes to ask Daisuke if maybe they could meddle this one time. Who ever said that dogs were immune to puppy-dog eyes obviously never saw the ninken's version of it. With a sigh, Pakkun leapt down from Bull's head and plodded toward Daisuke.

"Daisuke-sama. We the ninken of 8 have a bit of a proposition for you, if you would be so kind as to listen."

"What is it, Pakkun?"

"We were thinking that, since your summoner is lonely, and our summoner is lonely, and they both love Icha Icha, and they seem friendly enough, maybe they could become mates?"

Daisuke raised a doggy eyebrow and looked down his nose at the pug. "Pakkun, you do realize that mating isn't something that we outsiders can decide for them, right? If they want to mate, they will."

"Of course, Daisuke-sama. But don't you think it would be prudent to nudge them towards each other, to get them going in the right direction before someone else intervenes?"

"Are you asking me if you can meddle? What is the rule that governs all summons in regards to meddling?" Daisuke rose himself to his full height.

"Summons do not meddle." Pakkun bowed his head, the rest of the ninken whimpering in disappointment.

"Right. Summons do not meddle. I have lived far longer than you and I have seen what happens when we do."

"But Daisuke-sama!"

"No, Pakkun. No meddling. Now, if it were _fate_, that would be a different story entirely." Suddenly all ninken heads rose and stared at Daisuke's face, trying to decipher the hidden meaning. The elder dog's eyes twinkled as he went on. "You see, if fate were to step in, and say, decide that those two were meant to be together, well then who are we to judge?" And with that, Daisuke puffed away in a cloud of smoke, leaving the 8 ninken speechless.

"So…does that mean we have an 'ok' from the boss?" Akino, the dog with the sunglasses asked Pakkun. The ninken swivelled their heads towards the tiny pug as he contemplated the question.

"Yeah, we got an ok. Just make sure we don't get caught, or there'll be hell to pay." The ninken smiled at each other and puffed away to their own dimension.

Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

The two shinobi walked away from the training grounds and into town, not saying much. They walked in a comfortable silence, somehow falling in line with each other, neither needing to speed up or slow down for the other. Kakashi walked in his usual slouch, hands inside his pockets. He hadn't taken out his Icha Icha yet, having left it inside his weapons pouch. Lina walked casually beside him, arms swinging and head turning from side to side as she watched small animals move in the forest unafraid of the shinobi, and then the people in town going about their day. Being the first time she could actually see the village peacefully, Lina was fascinated by the peacefulness and friendliness around every corner. From the corner of his eye, Kakashi watched Lina go through an array of emotions, mostly of pleasure as she found something new to look at. He thought about what she'd done to get the bell during the test, and then about last night, how he'd seen her out of his window. If he'd been more tired he might have guessed that it was an illusion, but he knew that he could never imagine something like that, not in his wildest dreams.

Finally, they arrived at the bookstore, and Kakashi led the way to the adult section. Lina noticed immediately that she was being looked at oddly as she weaved through the shelves, and she wondered if perhaps coming here was a bad idea. Of course, part of the reason why she was being stared at was because she looked like a child, and therefore had no place being in the adult section of the bookstore. But secondly, and unknown to her, it was because she was walking behind none other than the legendary Hatake Kakashi. Brilliant genius of a shinobi, yet resident pervert of the village. So to sum it up, the reason everyone was staring at her was due to the question on everyone's mind: What was a female child doing following Kakashi into the adult section of a bookstore? But no one said anything, because while they knew he was a pervert, they also knew he wasn't a pedophile. They all trusted him with their children, and they had no problems with it. His side hobby didn't affect his work, and it didn't tarnish their children. Therefore, the onlookers left the pair alone, going back to their business.

Reaching the adult section of the bookstore, Kakashi pointed out the Icha Icha section, and Lina made a beeline for the volumes, running her fingers across the shelves for books as she read the names and remembered each story within. Paradise, Tactics, Violence, each miniseries had several volumes and side stories. She already had a completely updated collection of Paradise and most of Tactics, so she went straight for the Violence (no pun intended). Flipping through the books, she paused and reread some of her favorite scenes, not even bothering to hide the smile she knew was dancing across her face at times. She felt Kakashi's stare, and after a while looked up with a quirked eyebrow. "What?"

"Nothing. I've just never seen a girl get so happy over an Icha Icha book, much less one from the Violence series."

Lina wanted to remark that she wasn't a girl, she was a woman, but that sounded odd even in her own head, so she ignored the nagging feeling. "Yeah, well I'm not normal. And besides, there's nothing wrong with a person, male or female, wanting to read a romance novel with a little smut inside. And also, the Violence series in Icha Icha is quite good. I've read other BDSM based novels, and I have to say Jiraiya-sama writes it best without being too harsh. I have a couple of issues with some of his scenes, but I can ignore those when he's able to write some really beautiful stories." Suddenly she realized the whole store had gotten quiet and she looked around. She hadn't spoken up loudly or anything, but those around her had still heard, and they were now staring at her. Annoyed, she said, "What? Am I wrong?"

Kakashi let out an outright laugh, placing his hand on his face. "No, you're not wrong, but you certainly are outspoken, and no, you're definitely not 'normal'. Anyway, what do you think, Violence volume 3?" He decided he would love to have a discussion of the books with her one day.

Lina looked down at the book in her hands, volume 2, and thought for a second. "Well, I really really want to know what happens next, but my Violence volume 2 is pretty worn out and I know that if I buy volume 3 I'll want to reread from Volume 1 and 2...hmmm." She pondered for a moment, wondering how long it would take for the Hokage to allow her on missions. If she didn't get any soon, she'd have to hold off on buying books for a while. As it was, she was already not paying rent or anything while living with Kurenai, exchanging her stay with doing chores around the house. But before she could think much further, she saw Kakashi reach toward her. Momentarily numb, she stood stock still as he got closer and closer to her, his hand outstretched in front of him. Lina tensed up and at the last second instinctively closed her eyes tight. She stood there for what felt like an eternity, feeling his hand pause right beside her head (why was it there?) She heard a low snort and felt his hand move again, this time ghosting past her face and onto the bookshelf, apparently getting a book. Unable to control herself, she opened her eyes, coming face to face with Kakashi. They were hardly an inch apart, not unlike just a little while ago while doing the bell test. Only this time, she couldn't see his sharingan, which was covered by the forehead protector, leaving his onyx colored eye visible. In it, she saw something, but she couldn't quite tell what. Nervously, she began to bite her lip, wondering if he was going to do something other than stare at her.

And then he did, but not quite what she expected. He grabbed her wrist, turned around, and said, "I'll pay for Violence volume 3, you pay for volume 2. Take it as my treat for beating me without me being able to show off my ninjutsu." Lina looked down at his other hand and saw Volume 3 in it. So _that's_ what he was reaching for! She felt so stupid. But then she realized something and quickly drew back. "Kakashi-san, I can't let you do that! You've already been so kind to me, this would be too much!" But as she drew back, Kakashi hadn't let her wrist go, so he got pulled along with her, both of them losing their balance and toppling backwards onto the bookshelf that stood against the back most wall of the bookstore. Lina closed her eyes, bracing herself for impact and pain, and heard Kakashi take in a sharp breath.

Lina opened her eyes slowly before nearly popping them out of her head. In front of her, well more like on TOP of her, was Kakashi, bracing his arms to the side and above her head. She looked up and saw him staring down at her, and then she saw it again, that same look he'd given her just a moment ago. Staring for a second, and then blinking rapidly, Lina quickly bowed her head.

"S-s-sorry about that! I didn't mean to have you fall too, are you ok?" Lina began to try and wiggle out of the way, but somehow as soon as she moved Kakashi groaned. Worried that she'd hurt him somewhere, she looked up again. Of course, she couldn't tell what kind of expression he was making from behind the mask, but when she felt exactly how close they were, what parts of them were touching, she immediately stilled her movements. This was bad. Well, bad in the sense that they were in public, and people didn't know her, and she didn't exactly want to give them the idea that she was the type of person to do THAT in public. But, her more devious half was thrilled at the opportunity to get so close to Kakashi once again. Being so close to him before in battle, even if it had been a seduction technique to win, had been a thrill, and remembering those feelings now just caused her to get more and more excited. But she refused to let her emotions get out of control. She controlled her movements, trying hard to ignore the heat gathering in her stomach and the familiar twist in her gut that gave her jitters.

Kakashi was surprised to say the least. How he had ended up in this situation again was beyond him. The only difference was, this time there was no bell for her to get. He groaned slightly as Lina wiggled a little, murmuring hasty apologies about not meaning to 'make him fall'. After a moment of struggling with himself, he finally lifted himself from her body, and gave a sheepish laugh. "It's alright. Now, how about we go pay?" At this, Lina, looked up, her blush receding. "N-no! I really couldn't do that. Kakashi-san, you are really too nice." Giving a low chuckle, he murmured, "No I'm not." before patting her on the head and turning toward the cashier. Images of what could have happened were now bombarding his mind, and he was for once thankful that his jonin outfit was so loose, concealing a certain appendage. Lina followed, not sure whether continuously refusing would be looked at as rude, so she quietly accepted his kindness. They paid for the books, receiving stares from the customers when Lina handed hers to the cashier. Rolling her eyes, she showed her forehead protector, and placed her hand on her hip sassily, as if daring anyone to say anything about how she looked. Of course, no one did, and Kakashi mentally laughed at how funny she looked trying to act angry. They walked out of the bookstore, and into the bright sunshine, as it was now midday.

"Thank you, Kakashi-san. I promise to repay you as soon as I get my first mission pay. Oh, do we need to go tell the Godaime that I passed? Because you know, I DID pass." Lina poked fun Kakashi's way, lightening the mood that had been somewhat awkward in the bookstore after their little spill. Kakashi rolled his eye and said, "Yeah, we should probably tell her. How about now?" Just then, Lina's stomach growled in displeasure. Looking down, Lina realized she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, and she hadn't even had a BIG breakfast. But then, she heard another stomach's growl, and she looked up. Kakashi's hand was on his stomach, his other one scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. "I guess we can do it after lunch?" He hoped she would suggest eating together, he hadn't had this much fun with another person, male or female, since Asuma had died. But alas, it seemed fate had other plans. Lina laughed with him and said, "How about I meet you in 2 hours? I need to go home and cook lunch for Kurenai as a thank you for her cooking breakfast this morning. I woke up slightly late, ehehe." Kakashi nodded and said, "Alright. 2 hours in front of the Hokage's office building." Lina nodded and walked away backwards. "See you then! And thanks again for the book! You're the best!" Kakashi's stomach gave a slight twist as he heard that last part. But before he could think too much further, he decidedly squashed that train of thought, and decided to hit a bar later that night. Enough was enough.

Lina arrived home a few minutes later, and gave a cheery wave to her flatmate. Placing her new books beside her old ones, she proceeded to cook lunch for the two of them, asking Kurenai every now and then what she preferred as ingredients. She found all the ingredients for a basic spaghetti sauce in the fridge and started cooking. To save time, she used 2 water clones as helpers, one working on the veggies while the other grilled the meat in a mini-griller, while the original worked on the tomato base. After just over a half hour, Lina served the food, and waited for the verdict. It was a very simple homemade sauce she'd altered from her mother's recipe, and no one had tasted it except her so she was slightly worried. But as Kurenai chewed her food, her face softened into a smile. "It's good." Lina breathed a sigh of relief. It would have been terrible if she'd somehow made Kurenai sick! She hastily gulped down her food, taking seconds and thirds, making sure to polish off every last bite before heading out. She was so hungry after the battle she hadn't even realized it until she'd started smelling the sauce come together. Kurenai briefly asked her about the test.

"Oh, it was good. I beat Kakashi-san before he could show me any ninjutsu, so that was slightly disappointing, but it was worth it to see his face."

"Oh? What did you do to get the bell?" Kurenai was surprised to hear that a chunin could actually beat Kakashi, who was once an ANBU. But then again, Lina was no ordinary chunin, having lived away from the village for so many years. She was bound to have some techniques that could beat even Kakashi's.

"I know you won't believe me, but I swear it's true. All I did was take a page out of the kunoichi handbook, seduction technique number 1: distraction." Lina relayed the situation, explaining how Kakashi had landed a punch near her head, causing him to draw extremely close to her. Then, seeing her opportunity, she'd begun to 'seduce' him, before grabbing the bell. Needless to say, Kurenai was shocked. Kakashi, HATAKE Kakashi, had been fooled by such a blatant trick? There was no way. There was no way that the aloof genius Copy Ninja, Ninja of a thousand jutsus, had fallen for such an easy trick to spot. But she saw that Lina wasn't lying, and this just fuelled her interest in the two. As she watched Lina gulp down her food she smiled sweetly and asked, "What's the rush?"

Lina looked up and said with a mouthful, "I have to go see the Hokage. I'm meeting Kakashi-san in…a half hour! Yikes, I'm going to be late!" She started shovelling the food in, puffing up her cheeks like a chipmunk.

Kurenai raised an eyebrow and said, "Ok, but I still don't get what the rush is. Kakashi's going to be late as always. You met him today, so you should know right? He's always late, at least by 2 hours." Lina looked back up and thought for a moment before saying, "Oh? Well, he was actually early this morning!"

Kurenai's eyebrows shot up. "Kakashi was early? Hatake Kakashi, was early….are you sure?" Lina nodded and polished off her plate, slamming it into the sink. "Yup. Anyway, sorry for eating and running, but I need to go. Thanks for keeping me company, I'd love to be able to have lunch together again sometime, Kurenai-san!" Lina ran out the door.

Kurenai looked at the girl who somehow reminded her of Kiba and Hinata at the same time. She decided to see if she could get to know this girl even more, seeing as she was the one girl who'd made Kakashi come to something on time, in fact early!

Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine 

As Lina hopped down the street, she caught sight of silver hair bobbing up and down in a lazy manner down the street and she smiled. A thought crossed her mind wickedly as she dropped down and concealed her chakra. But before she could get much further, she felt a strong hand on her shoulder and looked up to see her 3 ANBU escorts behind her. They must have felt her chakra disappear and wanted to make sure she didn't try to sneak away. Silently she pointed to Kakashi and motioned a sneak attack. The Rabbit mask shook its head, even when Lina gave a pleading look. Disappointed, she tried to think of another way to sneak up on the Copy ninja. Of course, the most effective would be if she hid her chakra, but if that wasn't possible she'd just have to blend in as well as possible into the crowd. She hopped down and began to follow her target, slowly inching herself closer to him. As she did, she saw that he was reading a book, and she became more and more curious.

Kakashi was on his way to the Hokage office building when he felt a distinct chakra signature flare up from behind him. Recognizing it immediately, he didn't turn around just yet, continuing to walk up towards the building as he felt her get closer. He was reading his handy Icha Icha Tactics, but he didn't put it away. He knew she was comfortable with the books, and he was already known as the village pervert, so there was no need to try and conceal his collection. Besides, he didn't feel like actually looking around the street, not when he had a perfectly good source of entertainment in his hands.

Lina got up close enough to henge herself taller to read over Kakashi's shoulder, and saw that he was reading Icha Icha Tactics volume 4. She began reading the page he was on, remembering bits and pieces of the story as she went down it. When she was done, she clapped both hands on his shoulder and loudly exclaimed, "So that's what you were reading!" She felt Kakashi jump slightly at her touch and chocked it up to surprise. Giggling, she watched him turn around slowly before giving her an eye crease. They continued on down the street, Lina clasping her hands behind her back.

"That volume is actually really good, I loved the part where Kyo had to get information out of Reiko, and he had to almost seduce her, but then they...oh wait. Have you finished reading it yet? Cuz I don't want to spoil it for you." Kakashi nodded and said, "I've read it a couple of times, so don't worry about it. And I know what you mean, that scene in the hot tub was very well written." It was now Lina's turn to nod as she walked further along.

Right, but do you know my favorite scene? It's-" "Kakashi-san! What brings you here?" Lina looked up to see a familiar face, even if it didn't know it. There in front of her stood Genma and Raidou, the two jonin she'd met the previous night. Lina wanted to wave and greet them, but she remembered that she was now in her original self, so she stood back and watched Kakashi interact with them. He had slowly switched his posture while talking to her, changing it so that his back was slightly straighter, but now he dropped back down into a slouch. After some time, he turned to her and introduced them all.

"Genma, Raidou, this is the person I was testing, Sasaki Lina. She's a returning shinobi." Lina nodded and gave a shy smile, wondering how she should act in front of people she'd already met. In previous situations, when this occurred, she would pretend nothing was wrong, but she knew that these two were high level jonin. One look at her and they'd be able to tell through her lies immediately. She saw Genma slide his gaze down her body before turning back to Kakashi, expression not changing in the slightest. She somehow got miffed at this. Oh, so now that she wasn't a C-cup wearing a tight outfit and tall with nice legs, she wasn't worth his time? Her throat tightened in anger, but soon relaxed as she noticed Raidou. He hadn't blushed as he had when she'd henged into Hana, but he was giving her a bright smile, which she happily returned. Of course, she knew she was nothing to look at, so there was no reason why these two would spare a second glance at her. However, she still felt disappointment, perhaps because she'd been able to keep their attentions so easily the previous night.

"Hi, I'm Namiashi Raidou. We've heard quite a bit about you, the Hokage's told all the jonin about your return."

"HI, nice to meet you. Kakashi-san's been very helpful in helping me around town." For some reason, Genma's gaze shot from her to Kakashi, and a smirk appeared across his face. "Oh? He's been 'helping' you eh? I'll bet he has, you old dog." Genma had meant it in a sexual way, which Kakashi immediately caught on to. Lina had as well, but she pretended that she hadn't, only tilting her head sideways and saying, "Kakashi-san's not old!" She watched Raidou blush as he nudged Genma to stop, watching Kakashi's eye harden into an intense stare. But before they could go any further, Lina realized the time.

"Ah! Kakashi-san, we need to go see the Hokage-sama!" They didn't have an appointment, but they still should hurry just in case she was busy. Kakashi nodded before walking away silently. Lina bowed toward Genma and Raidou, formally. "I'm sorry we need to rush off. It was a pleasure to meet you." Genma waved his hand dismissively before Raidou elbowed him, muttering how rude he was. Raidou in turn smiled sweetly and said, "It was nice to meet you too. Maybe we could all hang out sometime, we'd love to hear about your travels, _ne, Genma_?" Genma just nodded and walked away, Raidou trailing after him.

Lina ran off to follow Kakashi, both of them nearing the Hokage office building. That's when she noticed that Kakashi seemed slightly off. He was gripping his book a little too tightly. Wondering what was wrong, she curiously looked up at him. After a moment, Kakashi's voice came out. "Sorry about Genma, he can be a bit of a jerk sometimes." Lina let a smile ghost her face before she returned it to a confused look. "Oh, Genma-san was looking at me so funny, I thought I'd done something wrong. Thank you, for introducing me. Raidou-san seems really nice." Kakashi didn't say anything and just continued on, his grip loosening slightly.

When they arrived in front of the Hokage's door, they were turned away by the ANBU who told them that the Hokage was not to be disturbed under any circumstances, by Shizune's orders. They would need to come back another day. Dejected, they walked back down the hallway, each wondering what to do now.

"Maa, maa. It seems like we came for nothing, ne? Sorry about that, she's usually not locked up so tightly. Don't worry about the test, I'll inform Hokage-sama that you passed with flying colors. You'll be rid of your ANBU companions soon enough." Kakashi apologetically said. Lina smiled up at him sweetly and shook her head. "It wasn't a waste at all! I got to meet 2 more people, not to mention I got to see you reading Icha Icha. I'd say it was more than worth it." Kakashi thanked his lucky stars he had a mask on, for he was now blushing slightly. With his pale skin, even the slightest hint of a blush was shown easily, so his mask had come in handy quite a few times. For, while he was known as the resident pervert, he was also an easy blusher. He could change his voice, his mannerisms, everything, but the one thing he couldn't disguise was his blush, and he hated that.

"Ahh haha. Well, that was nothing, really. Anyway, I guess we're done for now…" Kakashi trailed off awkwardly. Lina looked down, slightly disappointed that their time was already over, but then she looked back up and smiled. "Thanks for everything today, Kakashi-san. I should go home, there are some things I need to do around the house, not to mention I want to explore a bit. I'll see you around?" Kakashi nodded and gave a slight salute. Lina walked away, waving her hand high above her head. It was time to go home and read her books.

The rest of the day passed rather uneventfully, neither paying much attention to what they were doing. Lina finished reading her new books and remained cooped up in the room, rereading all her collection. Kakashi finished up some documents Iruka had asked him to do last week and went straight to a bar later that night. He had been getting an itch, a need for physical contact, all day, and he had had enough.

Entering the bar, he immediately sat down on a stool and ordered a drink. Almost immediately, the usual group of girls descended upon him. After some harmless flirting he waved them away, looking for something a little more substantial. But, as he looked around the bar, he found it quite empty and devoid of good women. He waited a little longer before getting tired. He didn't want just any old girl he'd had once or twice before. No, he wanted something new, different. But he didn't find it. So, he headed home, disappointed. He briefly entertained the idea of going barhopping, but that was really only for the younger generation, not older people like him who were known to be able to get a good lay if they wanted.

As Kakashi reached home, he made his way up to his room and lay on the bed, slowly falling asleep. He started out thinking about his day, the test, the bookstore, meeting Genma and Raidou. And then his thoughts turned to the girl who was in all 3 situations. And he began to dream.

Kakashi was back in the bookstore, Lina standing in front of him talking about how she wanted both Icha Icha Violence 2 and 3. He felt his body move as it had in real life, reaching towards her. He saw her eyes shut, and he paused, as he had before. He picked up volume 3 and grabbed her hand, heard himself suggest he pay for her. And then, there it was, her hand drew back, and he felt himself falling again, still unable to stop the momentum. He fell on top of her, and watched her wiggle, once again making him groan. But then something different happened.

Rather than him moving away, his nose picked up something. For a moment he thought it was his libido playing tricks on him. But then he picked up the scent again and looked down at the girl trapped under him. She looked back up at him before apologizing to his chest. Kakashi could see a pinkness cover Lina's cheeks as she furrowed her eyebrows. And with that, he gave up control, allowing the dream to take him where he truly wanted to go. Swooping down, he tilted her chin up and to the side, giving her a kiss on the cheek through his mask. He watched her expression turn into one of surprise.

When he didn't feel her respond, he drew back and watched her face. They looked at each other for a moment before he came back down and kissed her again, a little lower this time, around her jaw. This time, she moved her hands to his chest, gripping his jonin vest tightly. Kakashi kissed her across her jaw, gently biting her chin through the mask, making her pull him closer, if that were even possible. After going back the other side of her face, he went across it to her nose, again biting it softly. Then, he went to her lips, rosy pink with all her lip biting and slightly moist. Gently, he kissed them, testing the waters, seeing if she would respond negatively, positively, or not at all. When he didn't feel her do anything, he drew back once more. Lina's eyes were shut tight, her lips slightly parted. He came down and kissed her again, this time a little harder. This time, she responded. Releasing her grasp on Kakashi's jonin vest, she slid her arms up his chest and around his neck, drawing him in close as she pushed into the kiss, not opening her mouth against the mask still in place. Kakashi kissed back even harder, drawing her near by wrapping one arm around her tiny _TINY_ frame and placing his other hand behind her neck for support. As she moved into his grip, adjusting herself to fit his curves, he groaned, loving the feeling of engulfing her with himself. But then somehow the dream all went wrong.

Kakashi's groan had made her still, and Lina immediately withdrew herself from Kakashi, pushing him away.

"I'm sorry, that was completely inappropriate. I'm really sorry." He watched Lina apologize profusely, not able to look him in the eye. Kakashi, having just been roughly pushed away, was still slightly dazed, but he quickly lost that when he saw her hurriedly about to leave the bookstore.

"Wait!" He called after her, not wanting the dream to end, but she didn't look back. His libido still gripping the reins tightly, and him not willing to let her go in a dream of all things, he grabbed her hand and pulled her back against the wall they'd just been making out on. He trapped her under his arms, watching her squirm for a moment. When it seemed she was starting to realize how trapped she was, he bent down and captured her lips once more. This time, there was some struggle, as he knew there would be. He didn't know why she'd suddenly gotten cold feet, but he guessed it had something to do with embarrassment. Guessing this, he broke the kiss and whispered in her ear, "Don't worry, I won't let anyone see you." He continued kissing and nipping at her, feeling her skin grow hot, her scent dizzying him with every breath. Finally, he drew down his mask and kissed her fully, his tongue pressing its way into her mouth. He explored her, tasting her, imagining that she tasted sweet, but not sickly so. Kissing her deeply, he moved his arms around her, running fingers down her neck, eliciting a soft moan. And with that, he couldn't stand it any longer. Removing his hands completely he began unzipping her dress slowly, revealing the same bra he'd accidentally seen the night before. He broke the kiss and stared down at her, Dream-Lina looking up at him with her chest heaving, heavily scented with arousal. He brought both her arms up, holding them there with one hand as he kissed his way down her chest, deftly undoing the bra from the front, allowing 2 orbs to pop out before him.

But before he got any further, he removed his jonin vest and shirt, now clothed in only his bottomwear. Laying her down on the bookstore's carpeted floor, he crawled on top of her and began to lick, nip, and suck on one of her breasts, loving the sounds he was making her make. With one hand, he grabbed the other one, rubbing the nub between his fingers. With his other hand, he delved beneath her panties, which he hardly spare a glance at in his haste, and began to trace the borders of her entrance. He lifted his head up from her chest and watched the object of his affections squirm under him. Without warning, he plunged a finger into her already wet entrance, rewarded with a gasp and moan as he teased her further. Much quicker in the dream than he would ever in real life, he plunged a second finger into her, relishing in her tightness. His dream girl was now thrashing under him, desperately wanting more. Not being able to take it anymore, he unclothed himself, and then ripped her panties away before plunging himself into her. But before he could get any further, he awoke, hot, sweaty, and very hard, in his bed, with his hand in his pants. Groaning, he knew that he would never be able to fall asleep and have that wonderful dream unless he 'fixed' himself, so he began to relieve himself of some of the pressure, clinging to scenes his dream mind had created as he got off. When he was finally done, he lay back down, too tired to take a shower. He lay there, thinking, for hours. And what was his final conclusion? He needed to get laid. Anything to get his mind off of her.

Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiine

Lina watched in shocked silence as her supposedly new friend tossed and turned. She had been walking aimlessly through town when she saw his building. Wondering if he was still awake, she'd hopped on the wall and walked up to his floor, and noticing his window open, she'd stood outside, watching him sleep. And that's when it began, the moaning. At first she thought he'd been having a nightmare before he starting making sounds that were very distinctly NOT that of having a nightmare. She watched as he twisted his body, sweat forming on his pale skin as his back arched forwards. And then she heard him say something that shocked her even more: her name. He was dreaming about her...about THAT. She stood there, unable to look away as she watched her 'friend' have dream sex with her. The sly Icha Icha side of her thought it was perfect, and even wondered if she should hop in and 'help', but the rational and normal side of her promptly beat that idea down and told her to get out of there. If he woke up, there would be a lot of explaining to do. And so, she ran. She didn't care that her 3 escorts were right behind her, that they'd probably seen or heard what she'd seen/heard. All she wanted was to get out of there and into her own room, where she could think.

Finally home, she ran through the doorway, not noticing Kurenai sitting on the couch, and ran into her room, slamming the door. Chest heaving, Lina's face turned a shade of red so deep it almost looked purple as she thought about what had just happened. The seduction technique in the battle had really been nothing in comparison to what had happened in the bookstore, but what she had just witnessed beat everything by a long shot! She couldn't believe she'd actually seen Kakashi get off on her in a dream! Lina shook her head quickly, but the more she tried not to think about it, the more the scene popped up. And then she began thinking about the bookstore. His eye, his body flush against her. Just thinking about it made her blush! Then, she remembered something even more important. Her 3 ANBU escorts. _'Fuck!'_ They must have seen everything. The battle 'seduction' wasn't so bad, as she could have deemed that necessary to win, but what if they'd seen what had happened in the bookstore? And now, seeing what she'd just seen? What if they told someone? Oh God she was so dead. Lina threw herself onto the bed, screaming into her pillow.

Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

Kurenai looked up from her book, watching Lina run through the house and straight into her room, her face flushed and clothes in slight disarray. She lifted an eyebrow. The girl had supposedly gone for a walk, but she looked a mess. Then, out of nowhere she heard a muffled scream. Padding silently to the closed door to listen, she heard bits and pieces that sounded something like "...I can't believe I saw that…WHY ME!...can't do it...dreaming….Kakashi...fuck fuck fuck!" Now, Kurenai's eyebrows were fully raised to their highest position and a smile had crossed her face. Something had definitely happened between the two. And Kurenai was going to find out what.

-End

Aaaaaand that's it for now. So, what did you think? Good? Bad? I know, I didn't give you a lemon, but hey, if I did you'd be complaining that it was too soon, right? Anyway, I think it was probably ooc in some places, but I honestly liked how it turned out, aft I'd changed it. Tell me what you think, if I should change anything, if you liked it, didn't like it, yada yada. How was the battle? I rewrote it 4 times, same with the bookstore scene. That's why it's so late btw. Spent all day on it, and now I'll be spending all night on my essay that's due tomorrow...yay for no sleep! Haha. Oh, and I didn't put any Danzou in here, just cuz I want to make the next chapter the one with Danzou. Next chapter's gonna be another long one, Naruto/Sakura/Sai/Yamato are coming back, and Danzou puts his 'plan' into action.

Please review, comment, even if it's just a 'good job'. But if you didn't like it, please tell me why, I really do want to improve. Thanks!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Ok, I'm soooo sorry! I know I know, 2 weeks is insane to make you wait when I told you I'd have a chapter up each week. But this chapter for some reason was terrible for me, I kept getting writer's block, and then when I did write the chapter, it turned out awful, so I had to hold it off till I was happy. Last chapter left me a little dissatisfied, so I wanted to make sure this chapter was able to make up for it. Yet there is no lemon, but the story gets juicy. Anyway...

So, last chapter I felt was a little fast. Not sure if I should edit it and maybe add 1 more chapter in between before things start heating up, because I actually didn't plan for them to almost get together so soon. Oh well, I'll go with it for now. If I don't like it, I will change it though. I don't like the idea of them getting together so quickly, it doesn't seem right somehow, even though I like how the story turned out.

**Another thing I wanted to mention, just cuz it's somewhat relevant to the story: right after the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime, the Pain arc starts. Now, I personally want to develop more of the Lina/Kakashi/rest of the gang's relationships, so I'm stretching the time frame just a bit. Pain invasion won't come for a couple of chapters, even though this chapter marks the end of the TK arc and the beginning of the Pain arc. **

As always, please review, comment, write something! I'm dying to know what you guys think. Ja ne! ;)

Disclaimer: forgot to put it in the last chapter, but as always, I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. I do, however, own any original ideas or characters (such as Sasaki Lina) that I have created.

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Sasaki Lina is 29. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: **the Pain arc is still going to happen, I'm making Sasuke come back too, but Shinobi Alliance arc is still going to happen, as well as anything that didn't directly involve him in the anime/manga.** I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?) Enjoy!

Chapter 9

The next day, Lina awoke to a curt knocking on the front door. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she opened the door, waving a lazy good morning to Kurenai, who had also emerged from her room, tired. A muscular ANBU shinobi stood at her front door.

"Sasaki Lina, you have been summoned by the Godaime Hokage. You have 10 minutes to get ready."

Lina's eyes widened, her mind waking up and digesting the information. She twirled around and ran to her bedroom, hastily calling out, "Come in. Close the door, Kurenai, could you take care of him?" Lina rushed to brush her teeth, splashing water on her face quickly before rubbing it raw with a nubby towel. She pulled her hair into a low side bun and pulled on her usual dress. She nearly tripped over her feet as she ran towards the door, smashing her feet into her shoes as she watched the ANBU walk towards the door without looking back. She ran towards him, turning back when she heard Kurenai.

"Keys! Catch!" Lina flung her hand out without looking and grabbed the keys and ran out the door.

They jumped from the rooftop, her 3 escorts following them in plain view. To anyone who looked up, they would have seen an odd sight, 4 ANBU shinobi accompanying a lone girl. As they neared the Hokage office building, Lina briefly remembered her day yesterday, meeting Kakashi at the office, and then accidentally catching him in such an intimate position. Remembering last night, she blushed hotly, trying to clear her head.

The ANBU descended upon the front door, ignoring Kakashi and slowing to a walk. Lina walked behind them, trying not to catch his attention. Of course, that failed miserably.

"Yo." Kakashi's voice sounded lazy, hiding all traces of his 'little problem' from last night. He watched Lina turn towards him and then look away, her forehead scrunched up into a troubled look. "Good morning." Lina murmured. Mistakenly, he thought it had to do with the 4 ANBU escorting her, so he soothingly said, "We've both been summoned by the Hokage. I'm guessing she wants to know how your test went. Don't worry, after I tell her you've passed, she'll take away your guards."

Lina looked up at him and gave a tentative smile. "Thanks." They walked into the building, knocked on the Hokage's door, and walked in. Both bowed down to the Godaime, and Lina sent a smile towards Shizune, who for some reason was holding a pearl wearing pig.

"Well?" The Godaime looked at the pair. Kakashi raised his head and gave an eye crinkle. "She passed." An audible sigh was heard from Shizune.

"Oh? And you didn't go easy on her?" Lina stiffened, affronted that she was being underestimated once again. Kakashi shook his head and said, "No. She's actually quite good. I didn't even get around to showing her my ninjutsu." Lina blushed under the praise, it had been some time since she'd been told she was good at anything without the person wanting something out of her.

"Very well. Sasaki Lina." The Godaime commanded, making Lina stand up straight. "You are hereby relieved of your guards. You are now a reinstated Konoha chuunin, although I'm guessing that you'll make Jonin in 6 months, when the next round of testing starts. But just because you're back to chuunin status does not mean you are allowed to do whatever you please. You must remain within the village at all times unless you have a mission. Do you accept?"

"Yes." Lina suddenly felt a rush of relief as the Hokage dismissed her ANBU guards. They hadn't been that bad, acting pretty much like shadows that popped out every once in a while. She'd expected horrible treatment, considering she'd ditched her own ANBU escorts 13 years ago when she was placed on leave. She felt like jumping for joy, shouting to the world, "I'M FREEEE!"

"Ahem." Lina's face must have shown her enthusiasm at being reinstated, because the Hokage was now looking at her very sternly. Schooling her face back into a calm expression, Lina waited. Now that she was a chuunin again, she had to be placed on a team. She knew Kakashi already had a team of his own, so she couldn't possibly be a part of it. Kurenai was pregnant, so she was out. Who else was there?

"I will be placing you on Team Kurenai, as a temporary replacement for Kurenai. They are: Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, his dog Akamaru, and Aburame Shino. You are to meet with them in training field 2 in an hour. Don't be late."

Lina nodded.

"Dismissed. Kaka-"

"Tsunade obaa-chan! We're BACK!" A boy's holler echoed into the room from down the hall.

"NARUTO! SHUT UP!" A loud whack was heard outside the door.

"Maa, maa, Sakura, Naruto, please calm down."

"Sakura-chan, you're so mean…."

"I can't believe you get beat up by a girl, dickless." Lina blushed at this, hiding her grin behind a hand covering her face.

The door swung open to revealed a pink haired kunoichi grabbing a blonde haired whisker faced shinobi by the neck in a headlock as a pale shinobi with his neck exposed looked on with a mildly interested expression and another brown-haired shinobi with a head protector and almond eyes tried to separate the 2 arguing ninja.

They tumbled into the room, where the girl promptly let go of the boy and smiled and said, "Hello, Shishou. We've finished our mission." Her smile faltered as she noticed Lina, who was still trying to control her giggles.

"Hey, baa-chan. We're back! Do you have any more missions for us?"

"Oi, Naruto! We just came back! Just because you have the recovery power of the Kyuubi doesn't mean we all do. SOME of us need a break, you baka!"

Lina's eyes widened at this. _'Kyuubi?'_ She remembered vaguely the Kyuubi's attack 17 years ago. She'd been a genin back then, fresh out of the Academy, so she'd been stuck in the evacuation area. She remembered hearing the horror stories, and seeing her fellow graduates crying when they heard their family members were dead. Her own family member had luckily been spared, her sister just entering the pre-academy at 5 years old, her brother not even born yet. She remembered the stories of the Yondaime Hokage defeating the Kyuubi, and something about a container, but she'd never realized the container was an actual person. For some reason, when she'd thought of it, she'd thought the container was some type of barrel or something. But here he was, the blonde boy, who was apparently the Kyuubi's container. She knew he must have immense strength to be able to stay alive with such a destructive force inside him. She felt slightly scared of him, considering how strong he had to be to keep it under control, but seeing him mess around and talk normally with his teammates soothed her heart, if only slightly. She was still slightly scared of him. Just a bit.

"Naruto! What did I say about calling me baa-chan! I'm not OLD DAMMIT!" The Godaime slammed her fist against the wall behind her, leaving a deep impression as the room stilled. Well, not quite. After a wince, the blonde named Naruto just grabbed the mission report from the brunette's hand and slammed it down on the desk.

"Ne, ne, Tsunade obaa-chan, look at the report!"

"Naruto, you know that goes to Iruka-sensei." Tsunade said sternly, rubbing her temples.

"But, but, I did so well! Look, I had the most important...YAMATO TAICHOU! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY HOW WELL I DID?!" Naruto whirled around, glaring and pointing at the brunette.

"But, Naruto, you know that the mission report is supposed to tell the truth. I wrote how well you did, but I also wrote what Sakura and Sai did too."

"But I was the best! I helped Hotaru convince Utakata-sama, and -"

"Stop bragging, dickless." Lina snorted into her hand, not that anyone else noticed with the yell that followed.

"Temeeee!"

"Enough! Team Kakashi, go take a break. You've earned it. Kakashi, that includes you. Lina, go meet with your new team."

"Ehhhhh? Tsunade obaa-chan, who's this little girl?" Naruto pointed at Lina.

"It's rude to point, Naruto." Kakashi said quietly, not sure if he should elaborate on the 'little girl' jab.

Lina smiled and said, "Hi. I'm Sasaki Lina, I'm….well I guess you could say I'm a returning shinobi." She walked up to Naruto, took hold of his finger that was still pointed at her, and twisted it before saying darkly, "And I'm not a little girl. Call me that again, and your finger gets it." Finally letting him go, she returned her smile to her face and said, "It's a pleasure to meet all of you. I hope we can work well together in the future, ne?"

With Tsunade's jab at Kakashi going easy on her, and all the looks she'd been getting, from Kurenai, in the bookstore, around town, Lina was getting quite sick of people mistaking her for a child. In her travels, she'd always henged into different forms of adult women, so she hadn't been called a child in a very long time. She'd beat The Copy Ninja, Sharingan no Kakashi, damn it! She deserved SOME respect. (Although, of course, the team had no idea she'd done that, but Lina was too riled up to care.)

With that, Lina bowed once more to the Hokage and walked out the door. Now that she was free, she could actually feel the invisible weight that had been on her shoulders for the last few days disappear. She stretched her arms and walked out of the building, nodding to two chuunin shinobi who seemed to be bringing a large stack of files up the steps.

Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiine

Naruto, Sakura, Sai, and Yamato watched the new girl leave, each thinking,_ "What the hell?"_

Naruto turned back and asked the question that was on everyone's mind. "Ne, baa-chan, who's that girl? She's kinda weird."

Tsunade rubbed her head some more, thinking about the stalling they were doing, and knowing that Shizune was bound to pounce on her with a stack of paperwork when they left. She needed sake. Sighing, she said, "She's a chuunin who was on leave for a little while. And she's 29, so mind your manners… not that you'll listen even if I tell you to. Aside from that, you don't need to know any more."

"But-"

"Naruto!" Sakura chided him sternly. Everyone had a story. Even if she was the Hokage, Sakura knew her shishou would not say anything. If they wanted to know more, they'd just have to get to know her. Saying their goodbyes, Team Kakashi left the office, including Kakashi.

Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine 

Lina went to meet her new team, wondering how they would react to the news. She knew Hinata would be happy, but she was anxious to get to know the others. If she remembered correctly, the boy with the dog had been friendly enough, but she wasn't sure about Shino, who she guessed was the boy in the trench coat. _'Oh well, I'll just have to try and get along, now won't I?'_

She reached the training field, and found her 'team' waiting for her. Hinata's face lit up as she ran over and grabbed Lina's hand.

"Nee-chan! We just heard, I'm so glad we get to work together!" Lina smiled, loving the beautiful smile Hinata was showing her, her whole face lighting up. "Ne, Hina-chan, I'm glad to work with you too! You guys too." Lina said towards the 3 males in front of her, including Akamaru. Kiba's face lit up in a feral smile, and they both sniffed her, remembering her scent. If she was to be a part of their team, it wouldn't do to accidentally attack her as an enemy . Lina in turn started sniffing the two of them, much to their confusion.

"Why are you smelling _us?_" Kiba asked.

"Well, I have a pretty good nose myself, so I need to be able to tell you guys apart, just as much as you need to do the same for me."

"Eh? But you're not an Inuzuka, so why is your nose so good?"

"I have a summons, a ninken. We've trained since I was a genin, so my nose developed quite well. Of course, it's nothing compared to you or Kakashi-san's, but it's still good enough that I can tell apart most things. I already know Hinata's scent, she's never changed. So I just need to remember yours, Akamaru's, and Shino-kun's." Lina explained.

Shino stood back, watching the group. He noticed that Lina was also eyeing him. She approached him, and hesitantly asked, "May I? I know, it's weird." He nodded. Lina sniffed the air around him, not getting too close. She smiled and said, "Ok, got it. So, now what?"

Hinata looked between her 4 teammates and said, "How about a light spar?" Lina nodded, "Sure, but who against who? Unless you three want to me to go against all of you?!"

Kiba laughed. "I'm sure it would be no problem, considering you defeated Kakashi-sensei. How about it? We can test your skills to the full capacity, and you can see some of ours too." Lina thought for a moment "Fine." She dropped down to a fighting stance. Her 4 new companions followed suite.

They sparred, the 4 originals against Lina, working her to the max as they weaved in and out seamlessly. It was natural for them to work together, and Lina was soon understanding the patterns that made them flow so well. Kiba and Akamaru's Gatsuga kept her busy while Shino's kikaichu swarmed behind her, ready to pounce. Then, when Lina let loose a mix of wind and water styles, washing away the bugs and Kiba/Akamaru, she turned and found herself almost being pummelled by Hinata's Palm Rotation. Creating a water bubble, Lina enclosed Hinata in it and screamed into it, increasing her voice to near sonic levels, but making sure to just make her dizzy. She didn't want to actually hurt the girl. At this, the training stopped, despite the 4 originals not being tired yet.

"Where did you learn that last jutsu? It used sound waves." Shino asked, suddenly very suspicious of his new teammate. The last time they'd seen a Sound attack, it had been when Orochimaru had attacked Konoha. He hadn't had a chance to fight during the Sasuke retrieval missions, but he'd fought with Zaku during the Chuunin exams. He remembered how badly Shikamaru, Choji, Neji, and Kiba/Akamaru had been hurt, and his regret that he hadn't been able to fight along side them. How did this girl learn a sound jutsu if she wasn't from the Sound village? Could she be trusted?

Lina looked embarrassed and said, "Oh. Well, it must have been 7 or so years back. I was travelling around near Fire country when I heard rumors of people who specialized in sound jutsu forming a hidden village. I tried to get in myself, just to see what it was like, but it was pretty hard. The shinobi in there were all pretty rough looking, so I couldn't get in. I was about to give up when I met this traveller who was sort of a messenger between the village leader and their daimyo, and he helped me get in. I saw lots of stuff there. There was this guy, I remember, who was all bandaged up and hunched over. He had the ability to push sound waves through anything, and break objects just through sound. I also met this one girl who used senbon, not sure how her sound jutsu worked, but she was really creepy. Actually, most of the people I met there were, which was why I left after a few months. But since I'd heard so much about this thing called sound jutsu, and obviously there wasn't a hidden village anywhere else, I wanted to learn some stuff. So I tried to kind of learn some stuff. It's really very unique. There are so many different types of sound jutsus, but explaining them all will take too much time. Basically, what I use is one of 2 types of sound jutsu that kunoichi use: sonic waves. I amplify my voice to levels that can burst your eardrums. Of course, I wouldn't do that in training, but that's what I can do. I'm not very good yet, cuz I haven't had much practice."

"Wait, you learned this 7 years ago and you haven't had much practice? Why not? Whenever I learn a new jutsu I always log in hours of practice to make sure I have it down." Kiba scoffed.

"Yes well, when you learn a new jutsu, you don't immediately leave the village and travel to another town, where revealing said jutsu could put you in danger, now do you?" Lina shot back. She was still slightly riled at the comments from earlier that day, so she took some of it out on Kiba.

"Anyway, the technique takes quite a bit of chakra and control, which is not my forte considering I'm a weapons user. Even the Sasaki clan jutsus don't require that much chakra control, it's all just nature manipulation, so learning sound jutsu is a little difficult for me. But, now that I'm in the village, I'm gonna try and get as much practice as I can. But…."

"But what, nee-chan?"

"Well, it's just that, because it's a sound jutsu, anyone within range will be affected. I can lower the magnitude, but that won't help me learn to control it in the full magnitude I'd have to use in battle. Also, I'd like to be able to adjust the technique so that I can use it without harming you guys too. Right now, the only way I've been able to do it is by using the Sasaki clan's water prison ball technique and scream through the water, but that gives me a very small attacking range, not to mention it leaves me vulnerable from behind and around me. If I can find a way to adjust it so that I can hurt only those I want to hurt, and not the ones I don't, that would be great. But then there's the issue of practicing. How on earth do I practice when I could harm anyone in hearing distance? Does Konoha have like a giant sound-proof dojo or something?"

"No. Why? The answer is because we don't have any shinobi who use sound jutsu. Why? The answer is because we are Konoha, not the Hidden Sound." Shino spoke in his quiet methodical voice.

"Well, then, any sound proof rooms? Even if it isn't a dojo, if it's abandoned, I can move in and fix it into somewhere I can train."

"The only place I can think of that's sound proof is the Hokage's office. There's that big dojo that Lee built that one time a few years back." Kiba pondered.

"Lee-san built a dojo? Why?"

"Oh, he was going through a phase where he wanted better sparring partners or something, so he built a dojo. Didn't last very long, but I think it's still standing. If you want, you can ask him to use it." (see reference 1 at the bottom if you don't know what I'm talking about here)

"That's right, nee-chan! And if you want to practice the sound jutsus maybe you can ask Hokage-sama to get materials for sound-proofing."

"And we can all help. Why? The answer is because it would build bonds between us, which is necessary for teamwork." Shino put in.

"Great!" *grooooooooooowwwwwllllll* Lina's stomach complained loudly at the lack of food it had received since last night (since Lina hadn't eaten breakfast before meeting the Hokage). Akamaru yipped, causing Kiba to laugh.

"Well, it looks like I'm hungry. How about some food?"

"Sound's good. Hinata, did you bring our bentos?" Kiba looked at Hinata hopefully. She nodded and proceeded to take out 5 bentos. "Yes, Kiba-kun. Here you go. Lina nee-chan, there's one for you too. I wasn't sure what you liked, so I just put in my favorite stuff."

"Thanks, Hina. I can't believe you made all this for us!" Lina opened her bento and gaped.

"Hinata is an excellent cook." Shino opened his bento and ate quietly. In the bentos were different things depending on the person. Even Akamaru got his own bento, which was stuffed with wet dog food and a few dog treats for later. Lina's bento contained the same dishes as Hinata; lots of stir fried veggies, rice, teriyaki chicken, and a heart-shaped chocolate chip cookie. As she dug in, Lina savored the taste of the food, each morsel delicious and rich with that home-cooked meal taste that only a mother (or Hinata) could pull off. Groaning in satisfaction, Lina gobbled up her food, barely making conversation, deciding to let her mouth have an orgasmic experience with food instead. (2) She watched Kiba and Akamaru wolf down their bentos, sloppily leaving traces of rice and meat on their faces, while Shino and Hinata ate politely and with impeccable manners.

"Kiba, you should chew your food. Why? Because it's bad for digestion not to." Lina smiled, Shino was just like her grandfather in some ways. He had been the strong silent type too, rarely showing a smile, but always showing kindness and affection in other ways.

"Ehhh, well I'm hungry!"

"Still. Savoring your food is part of the process of eating. Are you trying to disrespect Hinata?"

"Ano, Shino-kun, Kiba-kun, it's really alright. I don't mind."

"See? Hinata doesn't mind. You really need to loosen up, Shino." "Woof!"

"But-"

"Maa, maa! Teammates shouldn't argue, ne? Besides, with all this talking, you're taking away from the experience of enjoying the food Hina-chan has made for us! Eat up." Lina got up and stretched, having finished her food. Hinata also got up and began packing up the empty bentos. After everyone had finished eating, the new Team Kurenai walked slowly back into town.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Kiba asked.

"Sorry guys, but I can't stay. I need to go find Hokage-sama or Lee-kun to see if I can use that dojo you were telling me about, or find some other place to train."

"Good luck!" Hinata, Kiba, and Shino waved her goodbye as they parted ways with her. Lina walked towards the village, thinking up schematics for a new place to train, at the same time scanning her surroundings for anyone in a green jumpsuit. A short while later, she found Lee, walking up some steps on his hands.

"Lee-kun!"

"Sasaki-san! Good afternoon, how are you doing, this fine day? Please don't mind me, I'm just implementing my personal rule."

"Please, it's Lina. And what do you mean, your personal rule?"

"I lost in training with Neji, so I need to walk through Konoha 1000 times, going through all side streets at least once and main streets at least 5 times." Lina's eyes widened.

"That's a little much….don't push yourself, ok?"

"Ahh, but I must! I want to get much, much stronger! I want to become a taijutsu master, and to do that I must push myself to the limit, and even further than that!" Lee proclaimed, still walking on his hands.

"Well...if you're sure you're ok…. Say! I heard you built a dojo a few years back. I was wondering, are you still using it?"

"Dojo..? Oh, you must be referring to the Youthful dojo I made 4 years ago! Ahh, such youthful memories, that brings back. Well, I'm not using it anymore, no, why?"

"Oh. Well, see, I'm looking for a place I can use to train. I'd work in the training fields, but the jutsus I'm working on are kind of unstable, and I don't want to hurt anyone while I'm practicing. So, do you think you could let me use your dojo, at least until I get a better handle on my techniques?"

"But of course! But there is one condition." Lee flipped off his hands and gave Lina his 'nice guy' pose.

"Oh? Ok, what's that?"

"I challenge you to a match! I heard you beat Kakashi-sensei! Only my own magnificent has ever beaten the Copy-Nin! If you can beat me, then I will allow you to have the dojo for free! If not, then you must train with me until you have completed your other training! Do we have a deal?"

_'Ehhh...this guy. He's just like Guy was, back then. Scratch that, he's just like Guy IS! Well, I suppose his determination is what drives him to get better, so what's the harm?'_ "You've got yourself a deal. But, I just trained with Hina-chan's team, and ate after, so how about we stay this match until tomorrow?"

"Right! Meet you at dawn, in the dojo! Good bye, oh beautiful flower of Konoha!" Lee got back on his hands and proceeded to walk away.

"Wait! You haven't told me where the dojo is!"

"Ahh, right. It's in the Konoha forest, about 5 miles north-east of the main gates."

Lina walked towards home, looking at the various stores. She popped into a couple of shops, buying some new clothes. She'd worn out most of her dresses, having not bought any in a while, and since she was here to stay, she felt she might as well look good. (Of course, that didn't make any sense, but Lina's mind worked in mysterious ways. Point is, she wanted new clothes.) She found a shop that catered to shinobi, and when she showed them her forehead protector they gave her a hefty discount, not that she complained at all.

After buying 2 everyday dresses for training, and 3 sets of 'mission' clothing, Lina headed home. She greeted Kurenai, who was watering her plants.

"Hi. How'd it go?"

"I'm officially chuunin again, and I've been assigned to your old team as a temporary member. We trained for a bit, and I got a feel for some of their strengths. Oh, and I met the Kyuubi container, Naruto? He's….interesting."

"Ahh, so you're on my team huh? Well, it makes sense, considering the Sasaki clan's style is so similar to the Hyuuga style, plus you've got a ninken right? Good for tracking. And yeah, Naruto's definitely different."

After making small talk, they both retired to their rooms, Lina picking up her Icha Icha, before remembered once AGAIN what had happened last night. She thought about her meeting with Kakashi this morning, and how normal he had seemed. Well, if he wasn't going to bring it up she sure as hell wasn't either.

The rest of the day passed in a blur. In the afternoon, Lina went down to the training areas and practiced some taijutsu. Because of her prolonged absence from the village, she hadn't gotten the usual amount of training as one would while in the village. She'd hadn't been able to practice properly for hours at a time while travelling, only able to spare at most 1 hour, and even then she'd always been on the alert for any outsiders watching. So, after training for 4 hours straight, Lina was feeling the strain in her muscles when she stopped. Looking at her dummy target she'd practiced on, she found her strength was lacking in some areas, and noted that she needed to work on those areas before she went on any extreme missions. Of course, she doubted the Hokage would put her in such a mission right away, so she knew she had time, but she hoped it would be sooner than later.

Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

A shadow soundlessly made its way through trees as it watched a lone girl training taijutsu in a training field. The owner of said shadow had been ordered by none other than Shimura Danzou, leader of the ANBU Root division, to keep an eye on the new chuunin. The shinobi watched her, noting her techniques and tendencies, making sure to see everything lest Danzou should ask for details. The Root shinobi stayed with her, even when she left, making sure to hide all trace of him, until she met a certain silver-haired masked shinobi, supposedly by accident. Knowing he couldn't hide from Kakashi, he disappeared, reappearing in front of Danzou-sama.

"Danzou-sama." The expressionless shinobi knelt in front of his master.

"Well?"

"She practiced taijutsu, and then met with Hatake Kakashi."

"Did she see you?"

"No, Danzou-sama."

"Good. Keep tailing her." Danzou turned and hobbled away.

"Danzou-sama, may I ask you a question?"

"What is it." He stopped, not bothering to turn back.

"Why are we bothering with a girl like her? From what I can see, she's nothing special." If it had been anyone else, Danzou would have activated their curse mark on their tongue and tortured them to no end. But, this particular shinobi was one of the best, and of course, it was a valid question.

"I have my reasons. And you'd do well to not let your eyes fool you. Remember, she beat Hatake."

"Yes, Danzou-sama." The shinobi bowed his head before disappearing.

Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiine

"Yo." Lina turned her head away from the store front she'd been looking at to see Kakashi giving her an eye crinkled smile.

"Kakashi-san. Good evening, how are you?"

"Good, good, and you? What are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm good. I just finished training, so I'm about to eat my dinner. Would you like to join me?"

"Sure. Ichiraku Ramen?"

"Yum!" They proceeded to walk into the restaurant, which happened to just be a few store fronts away. Inside, they met Team Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei! What are you doing here?! Come eat with us? Wait, why are you with that weird girl?" Naruto exclaimed as the rest of the team turned around. Lina smiled and waved. "Hey, everyone."

"Naruto, I'm eating dinner with Lina-san, what does it look like?"

"Is this what they call a date, Kakashi-san?" Sai pondered.

"Ehhhhhh!? Kakashi-sensei, are you on a date with that girl?!" Naruto got his head whacked by Sakura. "Oi, Naruto! Stop calling her 'that girl'! Honestly, you really have no manners do you! Sorry about that, Sasaki-san. This boy here just says whatever he wants." Lina shook her head.

"Oh no, that's fine. And it's Lina. You're Sakura, right?"

"Right, and this is Sai, and our captain, Yamato-taichou."

"Hello." Yamato waved pleasantly.

"Hi...Shorty." Sai immediately said the first 'nickname' that came to mind. After a moment of stunned silence, Lina walked up to him, still smiling. In one swift motion, she grabbed his neck and started wringing it, still wearing that sickeningly sweet smile on her face.

"Never call me that again. Got it?" Sai nodded, turning blue from the lack of oxygen as Sakura and Yamato tried to pry him out of her hands, Naruto just sitting back and laughing at the poor bastard. Letting him go, Lina (and Kakashi, who was hiding his grin behind his ever-present mask) sat down beside the group and began eating their dinner.

"So, Lina-san. I heard you beat Kakashi-sensei. That's amazing! How'd you do it?" Naruto said while slurping away at his food. Lina felt slightly self conscious talking about the battle, considering her opponent was sitting right beside her, and she didn't want to seem like she was gloating. But on the other hand, she'd beat _Kakashi_! That was something worth gloating about, if there was ever anything.

"Oh, well you know...he was going easy on me, I'm sure." At this, Kakashi looked up from his ever-present Icha Icha

"What? No I wasn't." The rest of the group looked at the pair like they were watching a tennis match.

"Really. So I truly beat the famous Copy-Ninja at his full strength, not even allowing him to show any ninjutsu? That's crazy."

"Well, it's true. You should give yourself more credit." Kakashi continued eating. He really hadn't been going easy on her, she was just really good.

"Fine. Well then, Naruto-kun, to answer your question, I whupped this guy's ass! He never saw it coming." Lina winked and stuck out her tongue, showing that she was being playful, and totally didn't mean it. Everybody laughed and continued eating. After some small talk, they all headed their separate ways.

Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

The next few weeks went by relatively uneventfully. Lina's lifestyle slowly fell into a regular pattern. She was assigned many C and D level missions since she was still a relatively 'new' chuunin. During these missions, which basically involved shopping for elderly civilians, or chasing after cats, or gardening, she was watched by the rest of her team as they 'supervised' her work. Of course, Kiba always found some way to poke fun her way. Hinata, being Hinata, tried to help Lina out, pointing out where she could improve, but after some time Lina began getting frustrated. She was so much better than this! Why couldn't she go on real missions?! She once snapped at Hinata when she mentioned that Lina had missed a weed, but immediately apologized. Hinata didn't seem to mind, understanding immediately and just kept quiet. Of course, Shino was silent as always, only ever speaking up when Kiba got too rowdy. Throughout the entire time, none of Team Kurenai had any inkling that they were being watched by that same faceless ROOT shinobi.

When she wasn't on missions, she trained. Lina had beat Lee in the 'battle of youth' as he deemed it, and he had willingly surrendered his dojo. However, Lina had not yet had the opportunity to discuss soundproofing it with the Hokage, who seemed to be under quite a bit of stress, so she was just strengthening her taijutsu with dummies and water clones. Whenever Lina went to hand in her mission report, she would catch strains of the conversation between Tsunade and Shizune, something about Akatsuki moving closer and closer towards Konoha. Lina had heard of this mysterious group of missing-nin whose leader supposedly wanted 'peace', but she didn't know anything about them. She tried to ask her teammates, but they seemed tight-lipped on the subject. More than once, Hinata had opened her mouth, obviously wanting to say something, but Kiba and Shino would shush her quiet. Lina was getting frustrated, she was officially a chuunin, and part of Team Kurenai, yet it seemed that the Hokage was still keeping her in the dark about important matters pertaining to the village.

Thankfully, she found some solace in a silver-haired masked ninja who had wormed his way into her life. After missions, it became a habit for Kakashi to somehow find Lina and take her out to eat. Of course, this version of 'taking someone out' was extremely loose, as she normally ended up paying her share. Despite Kakashi's reputation for skipping out on bills, he somehow always managed to keep his wallet handy whenever Lina was around. At first this had raised quite few eyebrows and elicited some under-the-breath jokes, but after a few times it became a normal oddity. Lina eventually forgot about that one night when she'd witnessed Kakashi dreaming about her, and they grew into an easy friendship. Even though they often ate at secluded booths where they wouldn't be disturbed (for Kakashi's sake, so there was less of a chance of someone peeking under his mask), Kakashi still ate at an impossibly fast rate while Lina kept her head down and spoke to her plate.

At first, Lina had tried to ask Kakashi about the whole Akatsuki business, but aside from telling her that they were missing-nin (which she knew) who were looking for 'peace' (which she knew again), he didn't say much. Being a master manipulator, Kakashi always controlled the conversation and steered it towards something much safer. Several times, he brought up the topic of training with her, but she always refused. While she appreciated the thought, she felt that she still wasn't strong enough to train with him, still thinking that her beating him during 'the test' was a fluke.

Aside from training, missions, and eating with Kakashi, the rest of Lina's days were spent with Kurenai, who's pregnancy was developing nicely. She had gained a larger stomach and was now several months along. Shikamaru came by the apartment several times a week, often helping out with the groceries or other household activities. Lina learned that Asuma, Kurenai's boyfriend and her baby's father, had been Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji's sensei, and he had died in battle with Akatsuki, adding to the small list of things she now knew about the mysterious group. Shikamaru had mentioned that he would be teaching the child when it grew up and became a Konoha shinobi. Lina could feel the love this child was receiving, and she excitedly waited for the child to be born.

Every now and then, Lina would go to a bar, now in her real form rather than a henge'd form. At first, she'd nearly been thrown out, but after showing her 'ID' (her forehead protector), she was allowed to drink as much as she liked. It wasn't like the bartender really cared, all he was looking for was her money. Several times, she noticed Raidou and Genma around, but they never talked to her and she never bothered to go talk to them. To them, she was an unfamiliar face, and apparently not one worth conversing with, if she wasn't busty and wearing skimpy clothing. Of course, that was fine with her. She never really felt like introducing herself to people she already knew, it just complicated things. So she just watched them from above the rim of her drinks.

While she was watching them, it seemed she was being watched. Danzou was slowly infiltrating her life, stationing several ANBU ROOT shinobi around her at all times, each henge'd into a face that blended right in, but always watching her and keeping tabs on her. Why Danzou was so interested in this girl, no one but him knew, but because it was him, no one dared to question. The last person who had done that had suffered horribly, the curse mark on their tongue releasing a wave of pain so torturous they had been hospitalized in the special Root division of the hospital for almost 2 months.

Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iine

2 months after Lina's initial reinstatement into chuunin status, she was called into the Hokage's office.

Inside, she saw that Kakashi, Genma, and Raidou were waiting for her, along with of course Tsunade and Shizune, who was holding her pig that Lina now knew was named Tonton. She walked forwards, until she was standing directly in front of the Hokage, her back facing the 3 male shinobi.

"Ah, Lina, you're here. Good. I have a mission for you. This is a B-to-A rank mission, depending on what you find. I would ask a jonin, but right now all of them are in preparation for the Akatsu-…well you don't need to know what for. The point is, I have to give the chuunins the higher rank missions now, but this mission requires someone with a little more world experience. Of course, you, being a chuunin for 12 years and having travelled extensively outside of the village, are perfect. But, I can't leave you alone just yet, considering this is your first big mission, so I'm having these three join you. Besides, this mission could get nasty, so having 3 special jonin with you will be perfect. You know Kakashi, this is Genma and Raidou."

Lina looked at the 3 and nodded towards each of them, Kakashi giving her an eye crinkled smile while Genma dismissed her with a single look, and Raidou smiled slightly at her. Neither of them had spoken to her since that one time they'd happened to meet outside the Hokage's office, so there wasn't much to say. But there was still something that bugged Lina, something the Hokage had said. Lina turned her attention back to the Godaime.

"Hokage-sama. I understand your unwillingness to let a perceived outsider in on village secrets, but you yourself have reinstated my chuunin status. I have had no problems with missions until now. If this misson is as big of a deal as you make it sound, don't you think it's time you told me who the hell the Akatsuki are, and why they have everyone up in a panic?" Lina spoke much more casually than she would normally to someone so much higher in status to her, but she'd had enough of being kept in the dark. If she was to put her life in danger for the village, she felt she deserved to know why.

The Hokage's eyes flashed, but her face remained emotionless. "Oh? You think you deserve to know? Sasaki Lina, you are wrong. Knowledge for shinobi is not a right, it is a privilege. You serve Konoha, and as the leader of Konoha it is my decision what I do or do not tell my shinobi. A true shinobi does not question his or her orders. Do so again, and I will have you sent back to the Academy to re-learn the shinobi rules. Do you understand me?" The room stilled as Lina slowly came out of shock. She bowed her head and said, "Yes, _Hokage-sama_." with as much bitterness in her voice as she thought she could afford. The Hokage ignored the jab.

"Good. Now, before I tell you your mission, I need to know: are you a virgin?" Lina gaped at the woman. "Excuse me?" She heard titters coming from behind her, probably coming from Genma. "Are you a virgin? It's not that hard to understand. Yes or no." Lina blinked and shook her head erratically. "You're not? Good. Then, here's your mission."

"You're going to need to infiltrate an inn in Water Country. It seems that there is something fishy going on in the inn, where an exchange of information is happening. I need you 4 to go in, and see if there is anything they know about Akatsuki, and also if they know any potentially harmful information about Konoha. You will kill everyone who knows anything about either topic. Lina, you are in charge of the mission." Lina gasped, and she heard a sharp intake of breath, again, probably from Genma.

"Why me?" After her previous outburst, she was surprised to be given such a high position in the team.

"I'm getting to that. The infiltration will require you to become a sex slave. Obviously, not literally, I don't want you actually selling yourself. But I need you to pretend. And for that reason, I'm putting you in charge. I trust that with you in charge you will take all precautions to ensure your own safety. But, because I know that putting you in charge could be harmful for the mission, I want you to pick a second-in-command. That person will be able to veto any decisions you make which may harm the mission or yourself. Now, back to your mission, you will be pretending to be a sex-slave, and 2 of these guys will be your 'handlers'. You need to play these roles because several of the people living longterm in the inn are known criminals who deal in the sex slavery business, and you will need to infiltrate their group. The last one of you will be a scout and stay in the background, should anything happen. I will let you, Lina choose your handlers and your second-in-command, but I want you to choose now." The entire room became silent as the Hokage finished her speech. Lina was shocked. Her first mission, and she was to be a sex slave, what was the Hokage thinking? Surely, for a first mission, this was too extreme! But as the silence grew, Lina realized she needed to pick her people.

She turned around and stared at her three new teammates. Kakashi would be the obvious choice for a second in command, being her friend, but she knew that as her friend he may not be able to think clearly or make difficult decisions should the need arise. Raidou, she knew was very very soft. Of course, that didn't make him a bad shinobi, but he would not be able to say no to her if she pushed, especially if she decided to tell him who she really was to him (the girl from the bar). And she knew, if push came to shove, her personality would definitely rear its head and she would spill her secret. So the only one left was Genma. In all honesty, he was the ideal choice. He wasn't her friend, so he wouldn't spare her feelings. He would be thinking about the mission, so if she made a decision that would harm it, he could veto it without hesitation. The only problem she had was that if she decided on an 'easy' way out, he might veto it and put her in danger, thinking she could handle it since she 'wasn't a virgin'. But he was still the best choice, and in the end, the mission always came first.

"Ok, for my second in command, I choose Genma-san. I trust you to have my back when I need it, but I also trust you to veto any decision I may make that could harm the mission. For my 'handlers', I want Genma-san and Raidou-san to do it. Kakashi-san, you are best in tracking, with your ninken. Also, with your impeccable sense of smell, being a scout, you'll be able to sense danger the fastest. Ok?" The three men looked at her. Well, this definitely was surprising. She'd placed her closest friend among the three the furthest away from her, and the person who liked her least the closest to her. They all nodded. Lina turned back towards the Hokage, who was watching them, amused.

"Hokage?"

"Right. Well then, Team Lina, you are to arrive at Water country in 4 days. Here are the coordinates of the inn you are to infiltrate. Remember, this is recon, but kill everyone you get information from. Leave no one alive, I don't want this getting back to Konoha, or there'll be hell to pay. You will stay until you have found sufficient evidence that there is or isn't any information going around about either Akatsuki or Konoha. I'd say at least a month. Understood?"

"Yes!" Lina picked up the scroll Tsunade had on her desk. The 4 teammates bowed and walked out of the office. Lina's heart was pounding. Her first real mission, and she was the leader. 3 people's lives were in her hands, 4 including her own. Exiting the office, Lina turned towards her team and said, "I want everyone packed and ready to go in 3 hours. No excuses, don't be late or I will find you and drag your ass out. Meet up at the main gates. Pack light, but bring several changes of clothing."

"Won't that be too heavy?" Raidou spoke up. Lina shook her head. "I'm going to put all the clothes in weapon scrolls so that we can summon them and reverse summon them when we want. It's like summoning weapons, I just need to alter the writing on the scrolls before we do it."

"Won't that take time? We need to be in Water country in 4 days." Genma stretched lazily. Again, Lina shook her head. "It's fine, I write fast. It shouldn't take more than 15 minutes, which we can definitely spare if everyone is on time." At this, she noticed Genma and Raidou look at Kakashi.

"She's talking about you, Hatake."

"Yes, yes." Kakashi sighed.

"What? I wasn't, actually. I was saying it as a general statement. I honestly don't understand why everyone thinks Kakashi-san's always late, he's mostly always on time whenever WE meet up." At this Raidou's eyes widened and Genma's eyebrows raised. _'Oh really?'_ They thought before turning their attention to Kakashi. He completely ignored the previous comment and said, "Well, I guess I'm off. See you in 3 hours." and poofed away. The other three members of the team looked at each other before disappearing as well.

Lina went home and packed up all her belongings, which took all of 15 minutes. Allotting 20 minutes to get to the main gates at a leisurely pace, she spent the rest of the time writing clothes-summoning scrolls, leaving blank the actual articles of clothing for when they all met up. Nothing was worse that writing up a scroll all nice and neat, only to find that she had to rewrite it because the articles of clothing were wrong. After finishing writing 4 different scrolls, one for each team member, she found she still had some time, and decided to pack a light snack for the trip. As a ninja, she knew how to live off the land, but there was no harm in packing some light non-perishable foods to make the trip easier. After packing all the necessities, Lina wrote a note to Kurenai, who was at the hospital doing a check up, saying she was on a mission. And with that, Lina set off.

Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiine

Several pairs of eyes watched the small girl as she made her way towards the main gates. One signalled the rest, indicating his departure to warn their leader as the other continued to keep an eye on the girl. The one that left transported himself to Danzou, bowing.

"Danzou-sama. The girl has received a B-ranked mission out of the village in Water country. She is to be working with Kakashi, Genma, and Raidou."

"Fine. You will go back and keep watching her. I want Number 1 and Number 4 to go on ahead of the group and station themselves in Water country. They will watch the group as they arrive, but they will not engage. They will send daily reports and receive orders through summons only. Go." The faceless shinobi bowed and transported himself back to the surveillance group, giving out Danzou's orders. The 2 who had been singled out immediately went ahead and travelled at lightning speed toward Water Country. They knew they had to reach their destination at least a day before Lina's team.

Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiine

Lina arrived at the main gates and waited. She stood around for several minutes before she saw Raidou walk up.

"Hey, Raidou-san."

"Hi, Lina-san. Am I late?"

"Oh, not at all, as you can see Kakashi-san and Genma-san haven't arrived yet." Lina waved her hands around, indicating the absences. Raidou smiled and nodded. They stood around quietly in an easy silence before a familiar senbon-sucking shinobi made his presence known.

"Hey. We all set?"

"Just waiting for Kakashi-san."

"We'll be waiting a while. Might as well get comfortable." Genma didn't think Lina would actually make good on her threat to find anyone who was late. Lina raised her eyebrows and looked at the sun, measuring the time. "Kakashi-san's late. Well, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now. While we wait for him, I'll get started finishing the clothes-summoning scrolls for both of you. If he doesn't show up by the time I'm done, then I'm going to go get him. Come on, show me the extra clothing you brought."

Raidou and Genma brought out their packs and took out several outfits. Lina counted out the clothes between the two and promptly took out her scrolls. She'd already stored all her own clothes, so she only took out the ones she'd labelled with each person's name. After 10 minutes Lina had finished writing all the necessary components for a summoning to work. She placed each article of clothing on the scroll in its assigned place, made a series of hand seals, the reverse order of the ones needed for summoning, and said, "Reverse summoning jutsu!" With each jutsu an article of clothing disappeared. Finally, with the last piece gone, Lina tested out the jutsus by re-summoning them. After completing this and re-doing the reverse summons, she re-rolled the scrolls.

Looking up, she found herself still flanked by her two teammates, but not by the last one. Sighing, she stood up. "Ok, he's late. Time to find him." She saw Genma smirk with a definite 'I told you so' look. Rolling her eyes, she made a series of hand seals and made 6 water clones. They nodded at each other and dispersed, each one headed in a different direction.

"What's that for?" Lina turned and faced Genma. "I'm staying here, in case he comes, but if not, then I've sent my clones to find him. His apartment, Ichiraku, the bookstore that sells Icha Icha, the 2 training field where he trains, and the Hokage's office. Those are the only places I can imagine him being. Those also happen to be in the 6 main routes in the village, so if he's anywhere along those routes, my clones will find him."

"You really know quite a bit about him, don't you?" Genma gave a half smile. Lina rolled her eyes again. "He's one of the first friends I made when I came back, so of course I'd know a bit about him. I doubt I know nearly as much about him as either of you."

"I don't knoooow...It's pretty rare for Kakashi to open up to someone so soon. WE practically had to drag his favorite training fields out of him, remember Raidou?" Raidou nodded, remembering the conversation in the Jonin lounge in the missions office.

"Oh well-oh. One of my water clones just found Kakashi. She's dragging him here now."

"Wait, how do you know that? Clones only transfer their knowledge after dissipating." Genma couldn't see how a water clone could disappear and drag someone at the same time.

"Oh, one of the other clones met up with it and undid its jutsu to let the others know, who also undid their own jutsus. Kakashi's about 2 minutes away." Sure enough, the three looked up to see a familiar silver haired head bobbing up and down in the afternoon crowd. Lina's water clone soon came into view as the crowd separated.

"Yo."

"You're late, Hatake." Genma said lazily. He'd long since gotten used to the tardiness of the otherwise elite shinobi.

"Sorry, sorry, I got-" "-lost on the path of life again?" Lina finished, smiling slightly. Kakashi laughed and raised his hands up in defeat. "Sorry, Lina-san."

"It's ok. Well, ok, no, it's not ok. You're late, which means, we don't have time for me to write your clothes-summoning scroll. You'll have to carry your stuff while we travel. And we're not slowing down for you, so you better keep up." Kakashi gave Lina a mock salute. "Yes, ma'am." In return Lina stuck out her tongue and scrunched up her face. They both laughed.

"Well, I guess we'd better talk about the plan before we head out. I say we head out normally, the way we are now, but when we reach the edge of Water country we should switch into our covers. Raidou-san, Genma-san, you two are my 'handlers', so remember to act rough with me. Push me around, don't be too nice. Kakashi-san, you are going to be the scout of the team, so I'll need you to conceal yourself as soon as we reach Water country. I'm sure I don't need to tell you how, seeing as you are who you are. As for the rest of the plans, we can discuss them in more detail when we get closer." Lina looked to each of the shinobi, and they each nodded in turn. She nodded back and picked up her pack, stuffing her scrolls into it.

"Right then. Let's go."

-end-

Author's Note: Whew! That took forever! After all the editing, revising, reformulating, and storyboarding, chapter 9 is finally done! Some notes on the stuff in the chapter:

The part where Kiba talks about Lee's dojo is a reference to episode 193 of the original Naruto anime (not shippuuden!)

LOL 'orgasmic experience'. I've always wanted to say that, and since I haven't yet in real life, here it is in writing! XD

The coordinates of the dojo are completely made up, I didn't bother looking up if there were actual directions. If you're a purist, sorry.

There you go! Chapter 10 should be up on schedule (by Sunday night), and this one will be soooo much easier to write, just cuz I've literally been having dreams about this chapter (and subsequent ones) for days. That's partially why chapter 9 was so hard to write, cuz I just wanted to plow through to the juicy stuff, but I knew it would make no sense to you guys if I did. Please review, comment, I live off of them! Thanks! -chibi hina chan XO


	10. Chapter 10

**Something I wanted to mention, just cuz it's somewhat relevant to the story: right after the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime, the Pain arc starts. Now, I personally want to develop more of the Lina/Kakashi/rest of the gang's relationships, so I'm stretching the time frame just a bit. Pain invasion won't come for a couple of chapters. **

As always, please review, comment, write something! I'm dying to know what you guys think. Ja ne! ;)

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. I do, however, own any original ideas or characters (such as Sasaki Lina) that I have created.

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Sasaki Lina is 29. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: **the Pain arc is still going to happen, I'm making Sasuke come back too, but Shinobi Alliance arc is still going to happen, as well as anything that didn't directly involve him in the anime/manga.** I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?) Enjoy!

**RECAP**: Team Lina (Consisting of Kakashi, Genma, Raidou, and Lina) were assigned a mission in Water Country. Lina was named leader of said mission/team, and they set off. Meanwhile, several faceless shinobi were tailing the group, with 2 shinobi going ahead on a Danzou-ordered mission to await further orders. Now, onto the story!

PS: Regarding last chapter, I was re-reading it, and I noticed that I mentioned the water ball prison jutsu was a Sasaki clan jutsu. Just to clarify, this jutsu is different from the Water prison jutsu that Kisame uses in Naruto/Shippuuden. I haven't figured out how, but it is.

_**Chapter 10**_

Team Lina sped towards the edge of Fire country, making their way towards their destination.

"Man, my bag is so HEAVY." Kakashi complained for the umpteenth time. Lina just rolled her eyes. Without turning back, she said, "It's your own fault for being late. Stop complaining."

"But Lina-saaaann…" "Stop it! You're such a child! And that's coming from someone younger than you!"

"And someone who looks like one herself." Lina turned her head to glare in Genma's direction, who pretended not to notice.

They'd been travelling for most of the afternoon, and the sun was slowly setting. Knowing this, Lina called out to her teammates. "Start looking for a place we can set up camp. It's getting late and we've made good time despite SOMEONE'S tardiness."

A half hour later, the 4 shinobi/kunoichi dropped down into a clearing. "Finally." Kakashi groaned, rubbing his shoulders. Lina gave him a look and half smiled, knowing he was making a show more than he was actually complaining. "Oh, buck up. Start setting up traps, I'll get dinner started." Dropping their packs in a heap in the center of the site, they set to work, laying traps to ward off and/or trap potential enemies. Kakashi used his Sharingan create a barrier/genjutsu that would make the campsite invisible to enemies, while Genma and Raidou lay wire traps and explosive tags strategically. Lina found some firewood, and got Kakashi to make fire before he completed his traps. From there, she took out some kunai and went hunting. It didn't take long for her to find several small birds, and she was able to find several herbs which would go nicely with the meat. By the time she came back the traps had been laid. Taking out a summoning scroll, she summoned a small cooking pot and put it over the fire, using her water jutsu to transport water from a nearby creek and into the pot.

"Raidou-san, you're done with the explosive tags right? Could you help me pluck the birds while the water boils?"

"Sure." They set to work. Using kunai to chop up the meat, Lina took out the herbs she'd collected and began making a thick stew. Building a separate fire, Lina used another pot to make rice from the grains she'd brought in a small container. She'd often made meals like this while she was living off the land, since she'd had always found a way to make money to buy rice, which was the cheapest of commodities. It was simple, but filling. As Kakashi and Genma finished with the final parts of the traps, they turned their heads towards the delicious smell of dinner. They came towards the fire site and sat down, fidgeting.

"Is it ready yet?" Kakashi asked. Lina laughed. "You're such a kid. Patience is a virtue." "Yeah, well you try carrying that gigantic pack all afternoon." "It's YOUR FAULT you had to do that! If you hadn't been late then I could have put your clothes in the scrolls like I did for Genma and Raidou!" "But it's HEAVY! -" "ENOUGH! You two are like squabbling siblings. Lina-san, is the food ready or not? I'm starving too." Genma said, annoyed and hungry.

Raidou looked around nervously. "You guys, we're being too loud." Of course, no one paid any attention to him.

Lina looked at the food and said, "Give it 5 more minutes or so. Rice needs to be cooked properly. Nothing's worse than having a stomach ache from uncooked rice. Stew's ready though."

"Can't we eat the stew first?" Kakashi whined, and secretly, Genma agreed. Lina shook her head. "No!" "Why not?!" "Cuz I cooked the food and I said so! Besides, I'm team captain, so you do what I say." She grinned, loving the new power, forgetting that Genma had the 'veto' option available to him.

And then Lina remembered something. "Crap. Ok, I made a slight mistake. Kakashi, Genma, since both of you obviously need to keep your hands busy, and since Raidou already helped me skin the meat, I need you two to make 4 bowls for us, or plates or something. Go find something to make the bowls while we wait."

"You forgot bowls?! Nice…Well, Genma, we don't actually need to go anywhere. We can make bowls from combining earth, water, and fire jutsu."

"Huh? How? " Lina looked confused. Kakashi explained. "I can combine earth and water jutsu to make wet clay, form it into a bowl shape, and burn it hard using a fire jutsu. It'll be basically ceramic baking, except we won't do it in an oven."

"You can do that?! Ok then, go ahead. Food's almost ready to eat." Kakashi brought both his hands together, concentrating water nature in one hand and earth in the other, and formed a ball of earthy clay. Forming it into 4 bowls, set it down on the ground and baked it, using a fire ball jutsu. Then, using water again, he drowned the bowls in the water to cool them down. Voila! Lina looked from the bowls to the food, and smiled. Right on time.

"Ok, it's ready. Go ahead and take the food." She watched the three men clamor for rice and meat, not bothering to move just yet. "How's the food?" She'd only ever cooked for herself and Kurenai, so she wasn't sure how the fare was. They each took a bite before their faces changed. Genma nearly spit out his food, complaining "NO SALT! NO SEASONING!"

Lina furrowed her eyebrows and took a taste. Maybe she'd been on the run for too long, but the food actually tasted pretty good, even considering she'd been eating at the village for 2 months, having regular access to seasoning. When she'd been travelling, she'd developed a palate for more natural tastes. "Hmm...it does need salt, but I didn't pack any, and it's really not THAT bad!"

"How could you do this to us?! It smelled soooo good, but without any taste, it's horrible!"

"Oh, quit complaining. This way, you can taste the original taste of the foods, without being weighed down by salt and all that other crap."

"But-"

"Genma, stop it. Thank you Lina-san, the food is really not that bad." Lina looked at Raidou and smiled. "Thanks." She glanced at Kakashi, who was staring down at his food, thinking. Taking his silence as disappointment, Lina sighed. "Is it really that bad?" Kakashi looked up and gave an eye crinkle. "Well, it does need something to make it better, but since you made do with what we already had, I'd say it's very good. Lina smiled once more, ignoring Genma's huff.

But she had something more to do before she could even think about eating. "Kakashi-san, where's your pack?" She looked in the direction that Kakashi pointed and got up. She picked up his pack and dragged it towards her own, opening her own pack for a scroll and calligraphy brush/ink.

"Aren't you going to eat?" She looked up to see her teammates staring at her. She shook her head. "I want to finish this up first before I eat."

"Aren't you hungry? You can do it after, come eat with us." Kakashi looked at her. She saw Raidou nod his agreement. Genma slightly shrugged. She shook her head again. "No, it's fine. I really want to finish this. It won't take more than 5 minutes anyway, so I might as well get it done sooner rather than later." She turned back to Kakashi's pack and unzipped it, counting out the clothes he'd brought.

"Do you need help?" Lina looked up and saw herself face to face with Kakashi, who was kneeling down beside her. She smiled and said, "Go, Kakashi-san, eat. Aren't you the one complaining the whole way about how heavy the pack was? Aren't you the one who was complaining just now about how hungry you were? Go. Eat, rest. It's really no trouble." Kakashi nodded and went back to his seat.

"You know, if you hadn't been late, she could have done this beforehand and you wouldn't need to feel so guilty." Genma drawled.

"Shut it, pincushion." Kakashi tossed a rock towards him, which Genma expertly dodged.

After several minutes, Lina got back up and rolled up the newly-finished scroll. She went back to the fire and took out her portion of the food, noting that her teammates had left her an actually decent portion, despite her size. The food was now somewhat cold, but it was still edible, so she stuffed her face. Halfway through her food, the rest of the group was finishing up. Raidou said a quiet 'thank you', and Kakashi patted her on the back before getting his sleeping bag out of his pack. Genma was the last to finish, and he simply burped. At this Lina smiled and said, "Better out than in, right?" Genma gave her a smirk and moseyed off to his own pack. She finished up her own food and decided to clean the pots.

"I'll be back, guys. Gotta do dishes."

"Next time, don't bother summoning pots. Kakashi can just make those bowls he made for the dinner and you can use those."

"Thanks, Genma. I'll do that. I had no idea Kakashi-san could do that, so I packed them just in case."

"And you forgot bowls?"

"Hey...it all worked out, right? If I hadn't forgotten bowls we'd never have known about that clay technique thing." Lina called back over her shoulder.

"Lina-san, why don't you just reverse summon the pots and summon them again when you get home? It's not like they'll get mouldy or anything right? They'll be suspended in animation until you do summon them." Raidou had a point, but Lina shook her head. "I'd prefer to do them now. Who knows what'll happen between now and the time we get home? I could forget, something could happen in the village that could call my attention, it's just a lot less hassle to do them now." And with that she was off.

When she came back, she found her teammates had made camp for themselves, each in their own sleeping bag or tent in 1 of 4 directions. Deciding she might as well take the last direction, she dragged her pack over the site and unpacked. Unfurling her sleeping bag and pillow, she took out her Icha Icha and lay down on her stomach to read.

"Icha Icha? Really?" Genma's voice sounded out in the silence. She turned her head and said, "What? What's wrong with Icha Icha?"

"Well, isn't it a little…vulgar?"

"Kakashi-san reads it." Lina pointed her book towards Kakashi, who also had an orange book in his hands. He looked up and quirked his eyebrow.

"Yeah, but he's the resident pervert of Konoha. Unless you're going to start vying for the title."

"Hey! There's nothing wrong with a person, male or female, reading a little romance novel that _happens_ to contain a little smut."

"You call that a little?! A quarter of the book is filled with pictures of naked people, half of the book is filled with smut, which leaves only a quarter of the book to actual plot." Genma found himself knocked hard on the head by Lina's book. "OW!"

"OI! NO MOCKING ICHA ICHA! Jiraiya-sama is brilliant, show your respect!" Hearing Kakashi's giggles, Lina turned towards him. "A little help here?"

He shook his head, now laughing. "Nope, you seem to be doing fine all by yourself." Lina fumed for a moment before turning her back on Genma, going back to her reading. "I'll take first watch with Raidou-san. Genma-san, you and Kakashi-san take the second half of the night. We'll set out tomorrow at sunrise."

"No, I'll take first watch with you, Lina-san. I don't feel tired right now. Besides, Raidou and Genma make a good team."

"But both you and I are tracking types. If both of us take the first shift, won't it leave the other shift more openings for enemies? Not that, you know, you guys are bad at picking up on enemies, it's just that our noses would come in handy. Besides, it may be true that Genma-san and Raidou-san are a good team, but if we're all going to be in the same team, we need to know how to work together. So, since I already have a vague sense of how you work, that leaves Genma-san and Raidou-san." Lina tried to explain her logic.

"She's right. What, Kakashi, you don't wanna stay with me or something?" Genma joked.

"But-" Kakashi tried to protest. He wanted to stay and talk with her. He remembered his first 'real' mission, when he was a leader. Of course, he had been 12, being a genius, but he knew the feeling of anxiety well.

In the last few months he'd grown to care for the girl. Not in the 'I'm in love with her' sense, but in the 'I want to take care of her and make sure she's ok', friendship sense. Despite his initial intense feelings towards her, he'd slowly gotten over them as he got to know her. Sure, every now and again he would have the odd dream about her, but whenever they met up he didn't seem to have the urge to hold her as close to him as possible, wanting to kiss her senseless. His dreams were as vivid as always, thanks to Jiraiya's novels, but he had never been one to fall slave to his body. She had become a friend to him, and since he didn't have many, especially after losing Asuma to Akatsuki, he wanted to make sure she was ok with the mission, regardless of what his body was signalling him to do. He hadn't had a chance to talk to her before they left since he'd been late (he cringed inwardly, remembering why he'd been late), so he couldn't tell how she was feeling.

*Flashback*

_"Come In."_

_"Tsunade-sama."_

_"Kakashi. Shouldn't you be packing?"_

_"I did already. I was wondering if I could have a chat with you."_

_"Oh? This is rare. What about?"_

_"The mission, the one you assigned Lina-san." Tsunade held up a hand to silence him. Motioning him to follow her lead, she said, "There's nothing to discuss. I made a choice, and you are not to argue with it as I am the Hokage. Understood?" Being a master of seeing underneath the underneath, he nodded and spoke in a normal voice. "But Hokage-sama-" _

_"No, Kakashi. Now get out of here, I have a lot of work to do. And you don't want to be late." _

_"Yes, Hokage-sama." He walked out of the room and waiting. Several minutes passed before she walked out too, and they walked out of the office together, silently. A good distance away, Tsunade spoke up._

_"Let me guess, you want to know why I assigned a potentially S-ranked mission to a new chuunin, telling her it was a B-to-A ranked one. And, you're probably also wondering what the heck was going on just now." Kakashi remained silent, and Tsunade took that as an affirmation. She led him away from the centre of the village, making sure to look like she was simply on a walk with one of her subordinates. No one would dare question the intentions of the Hokage, but she knew several people were keeping close tabs on her. After entering the forest surrounding Konoha, Tsunade stopped and turned towards Kakashi._

_"I'm being watched. I can guess who, and I'm sure you can as well. For obvious reasons, I'm not going to be stating the person's name. As for this mission, you of all people should know that things are not always what they appear. Make sure Lina reads the scroll before you get too far out of Fire Country. Understood?"_

_Kakashi nodded. No, he didn't understand fully what was going on, but he knew that Danzou was obviously the one watching and spying on Tsunade, which meant that ANBU ROOT was probably going to tail the group and/or meet them in Water Country. As for the scroll, he could only assume that the scroll had further instructions as to what was REALLY going on._

_Tsunade nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke. 'Kage Bunshin, huh?' Kakashi thought before making his way home. He got his stuff and was just on his way out when Lina's clone appeared and dragged him to the meeting place._

*End Flashback*

He couldn't understand what Tsunade was thinking, sending a chuunin on an A-ranked mission? She'd said it was a B-to-A rank, which meant the likelihood of anything actually happening to danger Lina was moderate, especially since she'd put Raidou, Genma, and himself on the mission, but Lina was a chuunin! And she had no experience with this kind of mission (to his knowledge). Sure, she wasn't a virgin, but having random sex with people you chose was a completely different situation from doing it or putting on a show for the sake of a mission. He had seen many of his fellow jonin (mostly kunoichi, but some shinobi when men were necessary for the job) fall under the pressure, needing to take time off to recuperate psychologically. She had said that things were not what they appeared, so maybe the mission was a false pretense? And what on earth was going on with Root? He hadn't sensed them the entire trip, but there was no reason to suggest that they WEREN'T being followed, if the conversation with Tsunade was any indication.

"-But nothing. You go to sleep." Lina interrupted Kakashi's thoughts and shot him a determined look. Sighing, he went into his sleeping back and closed his eye. He'd talk to her later. Tsunade had said to make sure the scroll was read before they got out of Fire country. They could read it tomorrow. Lina looked over at Genma's stuff and saw him already in his tent. She went up to Raidou and sat down, giving him a smile.

"Hi. Mind if I sit?" Raidou shook his head, watching the fire. She nodded and made herself comfortable, pulling out her book. Her fingers brushed past a scroll and she looked down at which one it was. She immediately noticed it was the one that the Hokage had given her. Being slightly neurotic, Lina decided she might as well open the scroll now. Undoing the seal, she unfurled the scroll, staring at its contents. Tsunade had told her the scroll contained the coordinates of the mission, but that was a lie. Why, Lina had no idea. Inside contained mission details as follows:

**Team Lina. You have been dispatched to Water Country on the pretense that you will be completing a B-to-A rank mission regarding Akatsuki. This is a false pretense. Your real mission is as follows: You are to go to Water country and solicit information regarding Yakushi Kabuto. There have been rumors that one of Orochimaru's bases is still intact in Water Country and Team Lina will investigate. As well as gaining information on Kabuto, Team Lina will follow through on inquiries that may lead to information regarding Akatsuki and Konoha. However, that is secondary to the primary mission. The actual coordinates for which you will begin your search are listed below. For your disguises, you will not be pretending to be part of the sex slave business as mentioned previously, but instead a travelling civilian family. How you maintain this cover is your choice. This mission is being classified as B-to-A ranked, but the secrecy of this mission is S ranked. Fail and there will be consequences.**

Lina looked briefly at the coordinates, stunned at what she'd read. What the heck was going on? She was so shocked that she nearly missed the tiny folded up slip of paper that was attached to the scroll. Unfolding it, Lina read this:

_Lina: I realize that this mission has probably left you with many questions. Unfortunately, I cannot give the answers to you, not yet. I have given Kakashi some clues as to what is going on, so you can ask him. He doesn't know much, so don't expect to get an epiphany or anything. This mission is of utmost importance to this village. You are now a reinstated chuunin, and I have seen that your capable of becoming a Jonin soon. Therefore, I am granting you this one chance to prove yourself. Good luck._

"Is everything ok?" Lina's neck snapped back as she heard Raidou's voice beside her. She'd completely forgotten he was there. Smiling weakly, she nodded. "Yeah, everything's fine. But, we need to talk. All of us." She got up and made to wake up the other two people on her team.

"Genma-san, wake up. We need to talk." He groaned, making noises inside his tent. "Talk tomorrow. I'm tired." "Genma-san, it's about the mission." "What ABOUT the mission?! I'm TIRED." "Genma-san, up. Now." She used her best authoritative voice, and in a few moments, she heard enough rustling and grumbling to tell her that he was indeed doing as she asked. She turned towards Kakashi's sleeping bag.

"Kakashi-san. Get up. We need to talk." She laid a hand on his shoulder and gently pressed. Kakashi opened his eye, slightly glazed for a moment before clearing. He nodded and made to get up. Lina walked back to the fire, motioning the rest of the group to sit around her. Unsure of what to do, she passed the mission instructions to Genma, her second-in-command, and gave a brief summary to the other two. Immediately, everyone was wide awake. She could practically feel the tenseness in the air. As the scroll was being passed around, Lina waited for someone to say something. After the last person (Kakashi) had finished reading and given her the scroll back, they all sat around in silence, taking in the new information.

Clearing her throat, Lina took out the piece of paper that Tsunade had left on the scroll (who else would it be?) and read aloud what it said. When she was done, everyone was looking at Kakashi, who was staring at the fire.

"Kakashi-san? What did Tsunade-sama say to you?" Kakashi looked back at Lina and told her about the conversation he'd had with the Hokage prior to her clone finding him. The silence, if possible, got even more quiet.

"So, let me get this straight. We're NOT on a mission to get info about Akatsuki, we're on a mission to get info on Kabuto, that freak who went off with Orochimaru. And, the Hokage's being spied on, which mean we're probably being tailed and the person controlling the spies probably sent a couple of people ahead of us to meet us there. AND! This is a secret mission, with a chuunin as the leader?!" Genma said in disbelief.

"Sounds about right." Kakashi spoke up quietly when Lina remained silent. Genma had every right to be furious. He, Raidou, and Kakashi were elite, the best of the best. And they were being led on a mission by a chuunin, not even a low ranked JONIN! But Kakashi also understood that the Hokage's hands were tied. Asuma was gone, jonin were being assigned missions left and right, it was a wonder that the 3 top shinobi of Konoha were even in the village with the amount of trouble Akatsuki was causing. And Lina was no ordinary chuunin. She had proven her strength in beating him. It was now just her loyalty that still held some question, which was why there were 3 jonin stuck with her. If she could prove herself on this mission, she could earn her place back on the missions roster for higher missions that suited her level of capability.

"Well...fuck." Lina raised her head and said with a half smile, "Sorry. You're not my type." Raidou smiled and Kakashi chuckled while Genma rolled his eyes.

"Listen. This is your first mission. I know you're team leader, but I'm betting you've never been on a mission like this. Why don't you let me take over?" Lina looked at him, eyebrows furrowing.

"Just who do you think I am? Do you think the Hokage would allow someone under-qualified to go on this type of mission? Not to mention I have the 3 of you watching my back. I trust you to watch out for me, can't you trust me to lead you if the Hokage herself has assigned me as leader? I may be a chuunin, but I've travelled more in the world than any of you, and I don't mean in just missions! I've seen the world, really seen it, from a normal person's perspective, someone who doesn't have orders to kill. I have been in the part of Water Country that the Hokage has listed as our destination. I am familiar with the area and I know what would be a good approach for such a place. You may be a higher rank than me, but I have more experience than any of you. So don't you DARE go pulling rank on me, not when I know I can do a damn good job if you'll just shut up and let me!" While she'd begun softly, Lina's voiced had now raised and by the end of her speech she was shouting at the person sitting beside her. It was a mystery that birds and animals weren't running away screeching, thought Kakashi, amused.

After a few moments of silence, in which Lina couldn't look at anyone's face as her own was burning bright red with a hot blush, Genma let out a 'hmph'. Sneaking a peek at him, Lina saw him run his fingers through his hair. "Well, it's not as if we can back out now, now can we? So what's the plan, _captain_?" Lina's eyes widened at the title, ignoring that it had been said sarcastically, and she smiled. He had accepted her. Sure, he was still an ass, but as long as he was willing to accept her leadership, and give her feedback, she was ok with that. And so she got to thinking.

"Well, I suppose the first thing we should do is go over our disguises. Since we're supposedly going to be a family, I suppose I'll have to choose one of you as a husband. Hmm…" Looking around, she suddenly got nervous at who to choose. A big part of her wanted to choose Kakashi, just because she was the most comfortable with him, but choosing him might make him think she liked him, which could get sticky. But he was still the best choice. How was she supposed to act like she was married to someone she wasn't even a friend to? But then again, Genma was her Second-in-Command. It was actually probably a better idea for him to be her 'husband', considering they'd be able to be alone together and make up plans, whereas if she were with Kakashi it would be more difficult to relay the plans to Genma. With this decision, Lina turned to Genma.

"Genma-san. You will be my 'husband', leaving Kakashi-san and Raidou-san to be our kids. Ok?" Genma nodded. It made sense, strategically. Lina nodded. "Good. Then, you and I are gonna have to work on our story, cuz I'm a very bad liar." At this everyone turned to face the girl. "You were travelling around the world, henge'd into different people, and you're a bad liar?" Genma said incredulously.

Lina massaged her neck sheepishly, "Ahh, well, that's different. This is a mission, and an important one at that, which means I can't exactly just make things up on the spot without consulting you guys, right? So it's a little more complicated."

Genma rolled his eyes and turned back towards the fire. "Fine." Honestly, this is why he hated working with anyone other than jonin. Completely incapable of lying at the drop of a hat. That, and their abilities were nothing to speak of, but in Lina's case, since he'd heard she'd beat Kakashi, Genma guessed he could be lenient on the latter point.

"So, we're a civilian family on vacation to Water Country. I suppose we can think of more details when we get closer, right now we should get some sleep." Kakashi stood up and stretched before walking to his sleeping bag. Genma did the same towards his tent, leaving Raidou and Lina to watch the perimeter. The rest of the night passed uneventfully, the pairs switching after several hours to allow Lina and Raidou to sleep.

While on watch, Kakashi thought he'd felt something several metres away from the perimeter, but when he'd gone to check it out, nothing was there. No trace of chakra, no footprints, no physical sign of disturbance. He went back to camp.

As soon as he left, a shadow stepped out of the trees, revealing a porcelain masked shinobi wearing standard ANBU Root uniform. He'd been careless, allowing Hatake Kakashi a chance at finding him. He had orders not to engage, directly from Danzou-sama. If he failed, Danzou-sama's plan, whatever it might be, would fail. He had to be more careful.

He hadn't been able to hear anything aside from the girl's outburst at Genma. From what he could piece together, seeing the scroll she'd pulled out and the serious expressions the group had made, something was up. But he couldn't just send word to Danzou-sama saying that he thought something was wrong. He needed proof. And for that, he needed time. Slinking back into he shadows, he motioned his partner that he was going to rest, signalling at the same time that they keep watch of the group. The partner signalled back, showing their understanding. And so, they waited till morning.

-end

Author's note: sooooo….what'dya think? Bet you didn't see that one coming, eh? :P I wanted to give you a bit of a shock last chapter. It was highly unlikely that a chuunin would ever be assigned such a mission anyway, but I had to expand more on Danzou's plan, so I made that into a bit of a plot twist. So, now you know a little of Danzou's plan. Will the Root shinobi find out what's going on before the team gets to Water country?

And yes, I know, no lemon or anything this time. For all of you waiting for it, sorry, not gonna happen, not yet. I gave you that random one with Kaede a couple of chapters ago, and then that whole dream sequence in the last chapter. That'll have to sustain you for a while. But never fear! There might not be one next chapter either, not sure how far I'm gonna let the story progress before I cut it off. But there will be fluff coming up soon (meaning, if I make it long enough it'll be in the next chapter, but if I cut the chapter down then it'll be in the following one). And I have the build up to the lemon/lime (haven't decided yet) all ready and set to go. As always, please review, comment, tell me it's horrible, tell me it's wonderful, tell me you have nothing to say, I don't care, just please comment! Lots of love,

-Chibi hina-chan


	11. Chapter 11

**Something I wanted to mention, just cuz it's somewhat relevant to the story: right after the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime, the Pain arc starts. Now, I personally want to develop more of the Lina/Kakashi/rest of the gang's relationships, so I'm stretching the time frame just a bit. Pain invasion won't come for a couple of chapters. **

As always, please review, comment, write something! I'm dying to know what you guys think. Ja ne! ;)

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. I do, however, own any original ideas or characters (such as Sasaki Lina) that I have created.

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Sasaki Lina is 29. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: **the Pain arc is still going to happen, I'm making Sasuke come back too, but Shinobi Alliance arc is still going to happen, as well as anything that didn't directly involve him in the anime/manga.** I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?) Enjoy!

_**PLEASE REVIEW! COMMENT, ANYTHING! THANKS :D**_

_**Chapter 11**_

The next couple of days went by uneventfully. After the first night, Kakashi had thanked Lina for putting his clothes in the summoning scrolls, saying his shoulders felt so much lighter now. At this, Lina simply smirked and asked if she could expect him to move any faster, now that he had less weight to carry. The only response she got was a blur rushing before her as he pushed off a branch particularly hard.

Raidou had begun to open up to her ever so slightly, now looking at her with far less of a shy expression than he first had, and laughing much more openly when she and Kakashi were teasing each other. Genma had stayed the same in all of this, always the aloof one. But more than once, he'd been caught smirking. Each night, the team took turns watching over each other, and Lina slowly began to understand the team dynamics. She found that Genma, despite his initial resistance to her being leader, was actually a very good second-in-command. While travelling, the group began discussing formation strategies and ways to get out of situations , and Lina had found herself thankful on more than one occasion for his ability to take over for her. While she wanted to prove herself, she knew she had no experience being a leader, and it helped to know that she had him backing her up.

Kakashi was still the same as always. Quiet but always present. Lina had noticed it before the mission, whenever she'd met up with Kakashi in the village, but he was slowly becoming more comfortable with her (at least she thought he was). He didn't speak much, which was good because when she first met people Lina had a tendency to be really boisterous and outgoing. They would often sit together, her sipping tea and holding up most of the conversation while he sat across from her and listened, injecting his own thoughts every now and then. Most of their conversations involved Lina relaying stories about her travels. She found that she was much more comfortable talking to the famous copy ninja than she was with the younger group Hinata and Tenten hung out with. Maybe because he was so quiet yet exuded warmness at the same time, maybe because he was a jonin and had enough experience that he didn't look at her in awe, but either way she didn't feel the odd nervousness she'd feel after telling her stories to the younger crowd. Kakashi looked at her like he understood what she was saying, even when she wasn't saying it. To Lina, his 'lazy' gaze seemed to mask a deep understanding of people, which he conveyed through simple words.

She hadn't told him about everything. She hadn't mentioned the late nights she'd spent crying herself to sleep, the meaningless sex she had to get her mind off the ones she missed so dearly, dead and alive. She didn't mention the pain that had caused her to leave the village in the first place. It was far too painful, and she would never tell someone she'd just met something so personal. While she felt comfortable with him, he was still somewhat a stranger to her. While she'd opened herself up to him, she still kept certain walls between them, as she noticed that he hadn't revealed anything to her in return.

The second night after the group had left the village, something interesting happened. Lina and Genma were on watch duty when they heard a moan coming from in their camp. Turning around, they saw Raidou turning in his sleeping back, face scrunched up. Walking over Lina knelt down and was about to prod him awake (gently!) when she heard him say something that made her heart stop.

"Hana…." Lina looked up and asked Genma, "Who's Hana?" She desperately hoped that he wasn't talking about her henge form from months ago. Genma thought for a moment. "Hana? Well, there's Inuzuka Hana, of the Inuzuka Clan. But that doesn't seem right, Raidou barely knows her." He'd long since forgotten that girl he'd met months ago at the bar. Raidou turned himself over and groaned in his sleep. "Hanaaaaaa…" Not sure what to do, Lina shook him awake.

"Raidou-san, are you alright?"

"Yes, why? What happened?"

"Dude, you were moaning in your sleep." Genma smirked, making the word 'moan' sound dirty without even trying. Raidou groggily asked, "Really? What did I say?"

"You were saying the name 'Hana' over and over again." Lina responded.

"Man, do you have the hots for that Inuzuka chick or something? Her mom's a bit of a loose cannon, and her brother's really nothing to look at as a shinobi, but I guess she's kinda hot. I mean, if you don't mind the smell of dogs."

"Hey!" Both Kakashi and Lina exclaimed, since both of them had ninken. Ignoring them, Genma turned back to Raidou, noticing that he had now turned a lovely shade of dark red. "So? Dish. What's the deal with you and the Inuzuka girl?"

"I-it's not her. I was...I was-well it's nothing."

But Genma wouldn't have it. After much nudging and prodding, Raidou let out a great sigh.

"Fine, fine. To be honest, I wasn't thinking about Inuzuka Hana. Genma, remember the girl we met at the bar a couple of months ago? She rejected you, and danced with me?" At first Genma had a blank look, but at the mention of Raidou dancing his face lit up. "OH! That girl! Yeah, what about her-oh my God you have got to be kidding me. Raidou, you're not serious. You like her? Do you even know her?! Dude, we haven't seen her since, and you've been thinking about this girl all this time? What the hell is wrong with you?!" Lina's heart sank. She was the girl. She didn't say anything as Genma continued to pester Raidou, until finally her brain started to function again.

"Genma-san, leave him alone. If he doesn't want to talk about it, he doesn't have to." Lina took a deep breath. It was time for her to explain. Sure, she could always wait until after the mission was over, but she didn't feel comfortable knowing something like this and keeping it from Raidou, especially for a whole month (which was how long the mission would take….at least).

"Raidou-san, may I speak to you for a moment?" He looked at her and nodded blankly. They walked a bit away from the camp site before she turned to him.

"Raidou-san, I'm sorry for mentioning your talking in your sleep. I really didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"Oh no, it's fine." Raidou avoided Lina's eyes and scuffed his ninja sandals on the ground. Lina took a deep breath. "Actually, there's something else you should know. This isn't the greatest of timing, and I really would prefer to hold it off till after the mission was over, but...well if something were to happen where you were to find out during the mission, I'd want you to know ahead of time instead of it being a huge fiasco later. So, um, well here goes nothing."

Lina performed the hand seals and henge'd into 'Hana'. As soon as she was done, she looked at Raidou, wondering what to do. She figured he wouldn't yell or scream, which was a relief considering they were out in the middle of the forest and they were probably followed by whoever it was that made Tsunade so nervous. On the other hand, that made her all the more nervous. She handled it better when people got mad at her, it was the silent ones that freaked her out.

As she watched him, Lina saw Raidou's face go through an array of emotions. First there was surprise, then confusion, realization, and finally it stopped at confusion mixed with hurt. The hurt in Raidou's eyes pierced through Lina's heart. She hadn't known him very well, but he had reminded her of her brother while she'd danced with him that night months ago. And now, to see those eyes, who also reminded her of Hinata in so many ways, looking at her with so many questions, Lina felt guilt, something she hadn't felt since before she left the village 12 years ago. That's the thing about living a lie. It only hurts when you lie to someone who (potentially) matters.

"Wh-what's going on…? How...you...what?" Raidou stuttered, his brain trying to understand what he was seeing. One couldn't blame him, the girl who was his team leader had a completely different personality than the woman he'd been imagining, and they looked nothing alike, so to see the two people morph into one was shocking.

"Raidou-san?" He took a sharp intake. Even the voices were different, Lina had changed her voice to how it had been in the bar. He held up a finger, signalling that he needed a moment. They stood facing each other, not speaking, until Raidou found his voice again.

"Why are you telling me now?"

"Like I mentioned before, I didn't want anything to happen on this mission. You never know with undercover stuff, maybe I'd need to use her persona or voice for something. If I did, I wouldn't want you to get a giant shock during an extremely inconvenient time. I wanted to tell you after the mission was over, but that would be a month from now, and honestly, if it were me I'd be mad that someone had kept this kind of thing from me for a whole month longer than necessary."

"Ok,...ok. So, you're Hana. Wow, that sure is a big change."

"Are you mad? I mean, I know we don't know each other well enough for you to be truly mad, but still. Someone lies to you, the first response is usually anger, so I can understand it."

"Well, no, not really. I'm more in shock than anything else."

"Raidou-san, please understand that I wasn't trying to play you or anything. If you remember, that night I told you I wasn't looking for a relationship, so I only danced with you and made you comfortable. I was just looking for company that night, and I knew you were looking for more, so I didn't want to hurt you. But you were so sweet, and Genma-san was such a flirt that I wanted to show him that sweet guys like you could get the girl too. NOT that I was feeling sorry for you or anything, that's not what I meant, I just meant-"

"It's ok. I understand. Well! So you're Hana, huh? I suppose, I have to re-evaluate what I first thought of you, as, well, you. You even changed your personalities, I would never have guessed if you hadn't told me."

"Yeah, that was kind of the point. So...do you think we can work together, now that you know?" Lina hoped that this wouldn't affect their teamwork, but she also knew that was wishful thinking. Whether it was good or bad, this new information would change how they worked together. How _he_ worked with her.

"I don't see how this is going to change much, other than that now I know you're very very good in under cover work. I suppose this means I'm more trusting of your capabilities, if you were able to fool both me and Genma into thinking you were 2 different people." Raidou let a small chuckle fall from his lips as Lina burst into a great big smile.

"Really? That's great! Thank you, Raidou-san. You have no idea how much I appreciate your understanding. I know, this takes some getting used to, and I don't expect you to fully let me in or anything, but the fact that you are willing to trust me as your team leader after knowing this is very very important to me. Thank you." By the end of this, Lina (or in this case, Hana) had grabbed Raidou-san's hand and begun squeezing it. She'd lowered her shield slightly and her voice was now her own and not changed. Raidou's face reddened.

"What?"

"Erm, well, it's just. Could you change back? I feel odd with Hana looking at me with Lina-san's voice." Lina looked down at herself and laughed. Undoing the jutsu, she looked back up at Raidou (now that she was herself, she was short again).

"Better?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"Good." They stood facing each other, smiling for a moment before she cleared her throat. "So, I guess we can head back. Before we do, do you want me to tell Genma-san? I couldn't care less what he thinks, but if you have an opinion I'll take it into account."

"Oh? Why don't you care what he thinks, but you did about me?"

"Well, it's kind of obvious, isn't it? When I was Hana, he couldn't keep his hands off me. But a soon as I showed that I was Lina, he barely looked at me. Not to mention his change in personality. To Hana he's a flirt, to me he's a jackass. So, I don't really care if he knows or not. I suppose, if I were to tell him, I'd do it in a way that would be most satisfactory for me. Meaning, that I'd want him to KNOW I know he's a slimy perverted moron and that I will take every chance I can get to rub his face into that knowledge."

"Wow….you are very, erm, outspoken, huh?"

"Oh, sorry. Haha, I just hate it when people change personalities so drastically based solely on appearances. One of the reasons why I always henge before I go to a bar or something. I hate how people overlook me. Of course, it has its perks in missions where I need to be secretive, but still. I know that no one would ever look at me if I were myself." Lina laughed embarrassedly, running her fingers through her hair.

"That's not true!" Raidou said instinctually. Lina gave him a look.

"Oh really. So, you're telling me that if I was myself in that bar, and acted as Hana had, you would feel the same way as when Hana did it? I seriously doubt that."

"Well...ok fine you have a point. But then, I guess this makes me understand you even better. Both of us are underestimated huh?"

"No, actually that's not true. Girls like me will never get a guy, whether it's the Genma-type or your type. But on the other hand, guys like you have a very specific group of girls who would actually go for them. You have no idea how many girls love the shy guys over the overly friendly ones."

"But-"

"No buts, it's true. Anyway, you haven't answered the question. Do you want Genma-san to know?" Lina watched Raidou think and then shake his head.

"I don't want to make that decision. It's your secret if you want to keep it so."

Lina thought about that. She could always tell him later, but she would never be able to undo it if she told him now. "Ok, then we'll keep this between you and me, ok? For now, anyway. I may tell him eventually, for now, I don't feel like telling him." Raidou nodded. They turned and walked back towards the camp site.

When they walked back, they acted as if nothing had happened, despite the questioning looks the other 2 teammates gave them. Saying nothing, Raidou said good night and went off to sleep. Lina positioned herself on one end of the camp site, facing a wall of trees. She felt Genma come up behind her.

"So, what did you two discuss?"

"Nothing important. I just wanted to make sure he was alright." Lina didn't even spare him a glance.

"Oh? That took a long time, for just that."

"I wanted to make sure there wasn't a problem. Are you really going to criticize me for looking after my team?" At this Lina turned and faced him, daring him to fight back. Genma's eyebrows shot up before he backed off and went to the opposite side of the camp site, facing another wall of trees that was separating them from the road. Neither spoke another word.

-o-o-o-

The next day, the group finally reached the edge of Fire Country before the sun had set. Lina signalled an early stop to their journey for the day and the rest of the group dropped from the tree branches. The entire trip, Lina and Raidou had tried not to act different from before, but now that they both knew who Hana really was, the two other team members could feel something shift, even if they didn't know what exactly it was.

"Alright guys. We are now at the border of Fire Country. Normally, We need to be at Water Country by tomorrow night, so I propose we take it easy and go by sea. Of course, the other option is to push tonight and travel through River country through the night, spend half the night resting, and then push ourselves through tomorrow to get to Water Country, but I don't know about you, but I don't want to do that. So, how about we take an early break and rest for now? We don't know what's going to happen when we get to Water Country, especially since we're going to be going to an inn that is on Bōfū Island next to Kirigakure (Hidden Mist village)."

"Sounds good. We've gone over formation strategies and stuff, but we need to go over the mission instructions one last time and work out our henges and stories tonight." Genma dropped his bags and began putting up traps. Kakashi and Raidou unloaded their own packs and busied themselves with setting up as well. For a few minutes no one spoke as they worked.

The day had been a tense one, as they had all felt a sudden flair of chakra come from behind them. It had only been for a moment, couldn't even be considered a split second, but it was definitely there. This was all the proof they'd needed to know that the Hokage's suspicions that the team would be followed were accurate. The chakra had come from only 1 person, but from what they knew from past experience, there was no way there was only 1 person following them. Lina had wanted to engage them and ask what the hell they were doing, but Genma cautioned that that wouldn't be wise. They had no idea who the follower was, what they wanted, who they were working for (even if Kakashi DID have a good idea), and why bother aggravating the situation when the follower(s) weren't actually doing anything? And so, the rest of the day had been spent with the team proceeding with an outwardly normal appearance, while each member searched for a chakra signature, anything to indicate how many were watching them. But there was no more movement.

Now, as they finished setting up their tents, sleeping bags, and food was cooking, they began to discuss their cover story for entering Water Country.

"So, the mission report says we are to investigate under a pretense, and we decided we'd be a civilian family of 4. We decided that Genma-san and I will be the parents, which leaves you two as the kids. So how about we iron out our story first, and then we can work on our disguises?" Lina looked at her group for approval.

"How about this: we're on vacation from the local town we just passed in Fire Country, and we kids wanted to see the islands of Water Country?" Raidou suggested.

Lina nodded. "It's simple, easy to remember, and it won't get too complicated. As for our jobs: Genma-san is a rice farmer and I help out at the local clothing store. You kids work with your father on the farm, and none of us have any experience with weapons. Anything else?" They all knew that the simplest lie was the easiest to remember. There would be nothing worse than putting in extra details, only to have the entire story unravel if 1 of them misspoke. "Alright then, how about those henges. Kakashi-san, Raidou-san, could you please transform? Since you two are supposedly brothers, how about Raidou-san you are the older brother, and Kakashi-san, you are the younger one."

"What about our appearances? We need to match with not only ourselves but with you two as well, since you are our parents." Kakashi had a good point. Lina looked at each of them.

"Alright, how about you both henge into a younger version of yourselves first, and then we'll make changes from there?" Kakashi and Raidou formed the hand seals for their respective henges, and with a poof mini Kakashi and mini Raidou sat in front of full sized Lina and Genma. To her dismay, the younger forms of the shinobi were around Lina's height.

"Ok. So, Raidou-san, how about you adjust your age to 10, Kakashi-san, you can be 8 years old. Let's start off with that." The two mini forms nodded and changed accordingly. Raidou grew a few inches while Kakashi shrank a bit. The end result had Lina and Genma raising their eyebrows. While Raidou looked approximately his age, Kakashi looked too small. Seeing the two 'parents' look at him, Kakashi looked down at himself before looking back up at them.

"What? I was a short kid."

Lina tried to stifle a snort. He was shorter than her! _'Thank God his growth spurt changed that.'_ "Kakashi-san, for the sake of this mission, could you please be average size? It would make things much easier." Mini-Kakashi nodded and grew a tad. "Alright, now for appearances. Kakashi-san, your hair is gonna need to change color, and both of your hair is going to need to change shape. To make things more likely, how about we model each of your hair with us. So, Raidou-san, since you already have brown hair, could you straighten so that it matches Genma-san's? But keep it short, let's see how that looks first." Raidou did so according to Lina's instructions, and the new mini-Raidou stood in front of them. With a typical civillian haircut, Raidou looked like a normal boy, with the exception of the scar.

"Raidou-san, could you...erm...smooth out your scar please?" Lina asked. Raidou looked surprised for a moment before he nodded, and in a second the skin around his cheek was smooth. "Thanks." Lina turned to Kakashi.

"Kakashi-san, how about you match your hair color to mine? And, well, I _would_ say to make it wavy like mine but I don't think that would be a good look for you. So, I suppose you could leave it the way it is." Kakashi changed his hair color until it was black as night, just like Lina's.

With the hair out of the way, it was time to move onto the eyes. Lina finished cooking the food and began plating it and passing the plates to her teammates. They dug into the food, which was again, tasteless. After some eating, Lina, looking at Genma, noticed he too had brown eyes, but his were slightly lighter than hers. Turning to her 'children', she said, "Both of you are going to need to change your eye colors. Raidou-san, change your eye color to fit mine, so not so much black and a little more brown. Good, now change your eye shape to a more almond-like shape and less droopy. There, that's perfect. Ok, now, Kakashi-san, you do the same to fit Genma-san's eyes. No, more sharp and less rounded. Yeah, like that. Oh and your Sharingan, that's going to be a bit of a problem. Do you think you could keep it uncovered during the mission?"

Kakashi shook his head. "Whenever I uncover the sharingan it drains chakra from me. I can't turn it off." Lina thought for a moment, but came up with nothing. Turning to Genma, she asked him, "Any ideas?" Genma couldn't think of anything either, so he just shrugged. Lina sighed.

"Kakashi-san, do you have an eye patch or something that could keep your eye covered? You obviously can't use your hitae ate. I would suggest you use a genjutsu or some kind of barrier, but it would be too risky. If anyone were to sense the disturbance in chakra, our lie of being a civilian family with no ties to shinobi would be caught." Kakashi nodded and pulled out a black eye patch and swapped it with his forehead protector.

"So what's my story? For how I lost my eye." Lina was stumped. Childhood accident? Household accident? Every path her mind led her down brought her to some sort of accident.

"Well, we need to work around the rest of your face too, because I'm assuming you're not going to uncover your face. So that means that we need something that can cover 3/4 of your face. How about this: there was a fire a year back at our farm, and you both got hurt pretty badly. Raidou-san, that means that we can keep your scar the way it is. It would help collaborate with the story, and you'd also have 1 less thing to concentrate on." Kakashi and Raidou nodded at this suggestion, and Raidou reformed his scar.

"Let's change the story to a fire that happened 4-5 years ago instead of a year ago. Just because if it was a year ago, people would wonder why on earth we're going on vacation. Also, I'm surprised you didn't try and force Kakashi to take his mask off. Most girls in your position would have." Genma smirked.

At the last statement Lina frowned. "I'm not most girls. But you're right, the longer time period would be better, good catch."

"And won't it be strange if the only parts of them that were scarred were their faces?" Genma had a good point, but Lina had thought of that already.

"It's fine. If anyone says anything, we'll say the rest of the injuries were on their backs. You won't ever have to lift your shirt up in front of outsiders, so it'll be a good cover. Now, Raidou-san, could you alter your bone structure a bit to match Genma-san's? Kakashi-san, you do the same with yours to fit me. I would let you keep your face the way it is, but anyone can see that your facial structure looks nothing like either Genma-san nor me."

"Nor I." Kakashi corrected as he and Raidou worked on their faces.

"What?"

"Nor I. Either Genma nor I, not nor me." Lina stuck out her tongue sassily. "Whatever, smart aleck. Don't talk back to your mother." She grinned while Kakashi rolled his eye and Raidou and Genma laughed. There was a small moment of silence, as the group relaxed. As the moment passed, Lina looked over the final products of her instructions. The boys were unrecognizable except for Kakashi's covered face and Raidou's scar. Thinking her work was over, she turned to Genma.

"Now, Genma-san, about our henges-"

"Hang on, you forgot one thing." Lina looked back at the boys. "What?"

"Their skin tones. You and I are pretty close, and neither of them match us. Kakashi, you need to darken your skin tone a bit, and Raidou you need to lighten it. But when you lighten it, put a bit more pink, and a little less yellow. There, just like that." Satisfied, Genma turned to Lina. "Ok, now for us. We're a married couple with near-preteen kids, so we should be around late 30s to early 40s." Lina nodded and turned herself into a mid-30 year old woman of average height. Keeping her skintone, basic facial structure, and hair color, she changed her body shape into one that was more curvy to suit a woman who'd given birth to 2 children, and her hair style, which she changed into a short bob. Creating a clone to look at herself since she didn't have a mirror, she altered her face slightly to look older and repeated the process of cloning herself and fixing problem areas. Complete, she watched Genma change.

Genma had lengthened his hairstyle and made it more lanky, adding in a few gray hairs as well as hinting at wrinkles around his face. Being a shinobi, he had a rock hard body, but being undercover he added a few pounds, allowing his body to shape into a slight gut. He elongated his face slightly, and adjusted his features to fit. When he was done, he looked only vaguely like himself, as if he were a brother or cousin. When he looked back at Lina, he noticed she hadn't changed much, other than the height and body shape. "Hey, why do we all need to change, but you get to stay the same? You should change more, in case someone remembers you from when you were there last."

Lina smiled. "Nope, there's no need. When I stayed in Water Country last, I looked nothing like I do now, so there's no chance that anyone will recognize me. Although I will have to change my voice a bit, I hadn't learned how to do that yet." Lina cleared her throat and started a series of exercises to lower her voice slightly into a more mature sound. "How's this? Do I sound like I'm in my mid-30s?" The group nodded.

"You sound kind of like Shizune-san."

"Thanks, Raidou-san. I was modelling my voice after hers. I made it different though, just in case."

"But now we have a problem." Lina looked at Genma, wondering what it was.

"What?"

"You and I changed so much that we don't look like our 'kids' anymore. Guys, you need to adjust a bit to fit our new look." Lina looked from him to her 'kids' and found that he was correct. Smacking her palm against her forehead, she sighed.

"Sorry guys. Genma-san and I should have changed first so that you wouldn't have to change so much." She felt like a genin, making such a stupid mistake.

"It's fine, Lina-san. We all make mistakes. Besides, this way you learn." Raidou said kindly as he adjusted. Kakashi gave her an eye-crinkled smile and nodded, doing the same.

Now that the physical preparations were set, Lina pulled out a scroll. Biting down on her thumb, she summoned a map of Water Country.

"Where did you get that?" Kakashi asked. It was a well-known fact that Water Country, especially Kirigakure was a very secretive part of the world.

"Oh, I picked it up when I was there last, so a few years back. Here, this island is Bofu Island, it's the closest one to the island that houses Kirigakure. It's also the one we're going to get information from. The inn that the Hokage wanted us to check out is a couple miles away from shore. Tomorrow afternoon we should arrive at the edge of Fire Country. We'll make our way to Bofu Island by ship. There are passenger boats we can board over here. By the time we get to the island it should be early evening, so we can go straight to the inn and book a room. Now, normally I know it's policy to stake out the place first, but I know the inn, and if we tried to stake it out the patrons would definitely notice. Like it says in the mission report, something weird is going on in there, and it may possibly have something to do with Kabuto. We don't need to spook anyone."

"Do we know what exactly is the 'weird' thing that's going on in the inn? I mean, our cover story is sex slave trafficking, but obviously Kabuto is more interested in experiments. Now that Orochimaru is dead, Kabuto is on his own. He's no fused with Orochimaru's white snake, remember that report Tenz-Y-Yamato brought in when he went with Naruto? He said that Kabuto told Naruto that he was going to become stronger than Orochimaru. He's already 1/3 fused with Orochimaru, and if my guess is correc-"

"Wait wait wait, what the heck are you talking about? You're going to have to explain all this to me, 'cuz I'm lost." Lina hadn't been briefed about that _particular_ mission report because she'd been away from the village. Now, she looked around at her group, feeling slightly annoyed that she was being treated as the outsider.

Quickly, Kakashi explained the events that occurred when Yamato, Naruto, Hinata, and one of his ninken encountered Kabuto while on a mission to find Itachi. He explained how Kabuto had given Naruto the book where Orochimaru had kept all the information he knew about Akatuski. He explained how Naruto had mentioned that Kabuto's body had turned scaly and white, like Orochimaru's had. After explaining all this, he watched her process the information.

"Ok, so Kabuto is looking for power. But what does that have to do with experiments? When I was in Sound village, I never met the guy, but I heard rumors that certain individuals of the Sound had their powers enhanced. Is this connected to that?"

"Yes. Well, kind of. Orochimaru as you know was one of the legendary Sannin. He became a missing-nin and ex-Konoha shinobi when the Sandaime Hokage discovered his laboratory where he was experimenting on people. A few years ago, Orochimaru came back to get revenge on Konoha, and in the process killed the Sandaime. I'm assuming you heard about this?" Lina nodded and Kakashi continued.

"Shortly after, several hideouts of his were found, the most prominent one being the one where he based the Hidden Sound Village. But, within Whirlpool Country, Naruto and a few other shinobi found another hideout where experiments were being performed on young children. Well, when they got there the experiments were long completed, but there were test subjects still living there. So-"

"-So you're guessing that Kabuto wants to find new test subjects or new abilities that he can manipulate to make himself stronger. So, then maybe the Hokage's fake mission of a sex slave trafficking plot is actually a slave trafficking plot where Kabuto can pick and choose which children he wants to test on." Lina finished. Kakashi nodded.

"Right, because he wouldn't want to test on himself in case anything went wrong. Because testing on innocent children is a PERFECTLY fine alternative." Lina said sarcastically, fuming. Genma coughed.

"Right, well, now we're all up to date. So, we're thinking Kabuto is getting children from the inn? If that's the case, where are the kids coming from? The island itself? There would be rumors of kids vanishing. What if the inn is just a front for a smuggling ring?" Genma suggested. Lina thought for a moment, but her brain was getting too muddled.

"I guess we won't know until we get there, right? Let's go sleep for now, tomorrow's going to be a long day. Raidou-san, would you keep first watch with me?"

"Sure." Kakashi and Genma turned toward their sleeping bag and tent and went to sleep. Lina and Raidou sat together in a comfortable silence.

"So, Lina-san. How are you holding up? I know, that whole Orochimaru, Kabuto thing was a lot of information. You ok?"

"Yeah, I just need to get it all sorted out in my head. Is there anything else I should know? I mean, I'm the team leader, but it feels like you 3 know much more than I do. Which of course is understandable, considering I just came back to the village, but still. You'd expect the Hokage to give me a FEW more details before sending me off on a wild goose chase, and one where we're being chased ourselves no less!"

"Ahh, well. For the purposes of this mission, I can't think of anything else you're being left out from, but if anything comes up I'll let you know. And don't be so worried. You have Genma and Kakashi beside you. Genma's one of the Hokage's personal guards, and even though he seems like a flake sometimes, he's really one of the best. Same goes for Kakashi. You know he was in ANBU back in the day, right? Yeah, if you ever see him in a sleeveless shirt you'll see his tattoo."

"No, I had no idea. Wow, why'd he quit?"

"Who knows? There are rumors, but I don't like to pay too much attention to them." Raidou concluded. Lina waited for him to elaborate on himself, but when he didn't she prompted, "And you?"

"And me what?"

"You've been singing the praises of both Genma-san and Kakashi-san, what about yourself?" Lina teased.

"Oh...well I'm one of the Hokage's guards too, so I suppose that makes me good. Ahaha." Raidou rubbed one hand over an arm embarrassedly.

"Good? Come on. You can't fool me. I know that you have to be one of the best to be chosen to be the Hokage's guard. You give yourself waaaay too little credit." Lina nudged him with her elbow. Raidou laughed and nudged her back.

"Maybe. But you have to be pretty good yourself, if you could beat Kakashi."

Lina laughed. "Oh that? Why is everyone so hung up on that? I'm convinced he went easy on me. How on earth was I able to beat him without him using ninjutsu? He's Sharingan no Kakashi for God's sake!"

"What?! That was actually true? There was a rumor that you did beat him without allowing him to use ninjutsu, but I thought that was just an exaggeration!"

"Nope. But don't get too excited. Like I said, he went easy on me."

"Hmm, are you sure? Because Kakashi isn't the type to go easy on anyone. He feels like it would be a dishonor to the opponent."

Lina thought about this. "Well, I dunno about that. But I really do feel like he must have gone easy on me. Or maybe he got hurt and hadn't recovered fully or something."

"Now who's not giving themselves enough credit? Where did your spiritedness as Hana go? Did you ever think you're actually a really good fighter?"

"Psh, I know I'm good. That's only expected, considering how I've lived for the last 12 years. But I also know what the rumors say of the famous Hatake Kakashi. And my 'spiritedness', as you call it, is reserved for reasonable things. This is not one of them." Lina looked towards Kakashi's body, which was turned away from her. "There's no way I could beat him in a real fight." Suddenly Lina was feeling wistful. Noticing this, Raidou nudged her slightly, less playfully than before, and more caring. "You never know." Lina looked back at him and smiled softly. "Thanks." They sat in silence.

-o-o-o-

One of Kakashi's habits that he'd developed at a very young age was the inability to go to sleep unless his surroundings were silent. He wouldn't consider this a bad habit, considering his job, but it did make life more interesting when he overheard tidbits of information that he might not necessarily be privy to. Like right now. Hearing Lina opening up to Raidou (a point, he'd like to add, which made absolutely no sense to him, considering HE was the one closest to her in the group, or so he thought) made him smile. Hearing her tease Raidou had almost made him chuckle. He knew how shy Raidou was with people. If it hadn't been for Genma's constant prodding, Kakashi doubted Raidou would ever be as open as he was. Yet, he was still shy around women. This thought made Kakashi frown. Why were these two so close?

Wondering about this, he nearly missed Lina mention his name. He did, however, fully miss the 'Hana' comment Raidou made. When his mind finally caught up, he realised what they were saying, and he didn't quite know what to think. _'This girl...Well at least Raidou told her what's what. Although…'_ Kakashi thought back to that day they'd fought. He didn't know what had come over him, but he hadn't felt like himself. He heard Lina talk softly, saying she could never beat him in a fight. _'Don't say that. Raidou's right, you never know.'_ Kakashi wanted to get up and tell her that. It must've been the 'teacher' in him. For all his past mistakes, leaving Naruto and Sakura alone and only focusing on Sasuke, he'd learned how to be a good teacher, even if it was too late now. And part of being a good teacher was motivating his students. _ 'Even though Lina-san's not one of my students….right.'_ Mentally shaking his head, he tried to get to sleep.

**-end**

Author's Note: I know I know, this was super super late, 2 weeks, I'm sorry! I think I'm gonna be late for the next few as well, cuz I'm starting finals soon. I have been dying to write, though, so I'm going to splurge and write the next chapter. It should be done soon, but after that there's gonna be a dry spell for a while. So for most of April I'll be studying/doing exams. And yes, I know this was a terrible way to leave you guys for a month, considering there was no fluff like I'd promised.

Just so you guys know why I am so late recently, it's cuz I've applied to grad school. So recently I've been waiting and getting admission letters from grad schools. And I've been super depressed cuz I've been rejected from 2 that I applied to, and I had to retract my application from 2 universities (long story), and now I'm waiting for a few more to trickle in. Not to mention I'm still taking university classes, so it's 'final assignment/term report' season. So, as you can imagine, I'm having a bit of a rough time in life. I don't know who on earth thought it was a good idea to put admissions/rejections season smack dab in the middle of the final 2 months of school, 1 of which is dedicated for final exams. What, we students aren't stressed enough during that time, you want to add more?! Jeez….anyway that's my rant about how much life sucks atm.

Some notes: about the water clones vs shadow clones thing, I made that whole part up (about them being able to transfer thoughts etc) but I kept the part of them having limited mobility. I couldn't find much info about water clones, so I hope you don't mind me taking that liberty.

About the 'civilian hair cut' that Raidou got, I wasn't sure how to explain that. It's basically the typical male hairstyle that you see lots of Asian (Chinese, Korean, Japanese, etc) guys with straight hair get (at least, it's typical where I live). The front bit of hair extends forward at an angle, rest of hair lies flat on head, sometimes spiky at the back. I hope you know what I mean haha. Similar to Sai's hairstyle. I guess the best guess I could make would be Naruto's hairstyle in that one episode in the anime when he's talking to Kushina about how he wishes he had her hair, and then they show a clip of what he would like with her red hair. It's during his training on that island with the 8 Tails. As for Kakashi's hair, I wanted to keep it the same shape, cuz anything else just looked wrong in my head. Besides, I found 1 picture off google that showed Kakashi with black hair. Not bad, imo.

Another thing: about the skin tones, I used 'pink' and 'yellow' to describe the tones. That's cuz everyone is either pink-based or yellow-based in their skin tone, with the except of beige-toned people who have equal amounts of both. Even in the darker shades, there are pink and yellow sides. For all you men or ladies who don't wear makeup reading this, take my word for it, makeup is actually split into yellow and pink shades when it comes to stuff like foundation.

What did you think about Raidou finding out? Oh, and Genma's gonna find out about the Hana-Lina link in the 1-2 chapters.

I ended up giving you guys some sweet friendship-y stuff between Raidou and Lina. I hope you enjoyed it, the next chapter (which will be uploaded soon) is gonna focus on Genma and a bit of Kakashi. Raidou will get his turn again eventually.

_**Please review, comment, even if you just wanna say you read it. Please please please. Thank you!**_

-Hina


	12. Chapter 12

**Something I wanted to mention, just cuz it's somewhat relevant to the story: right after the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime, the Pain arc starts. Now, I personally want to develop more of the Lina/Kakashi/rest of the gang's relationships, so I'm stretching the time frame just a bit. Pain invasion won't come for a few chapters.**

As always, please review, comment, write something! I'm dying to know what you guys think. Ja ne! ;)

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. I do, however, own any original ideas or characters (such as Sasaki Lina) that I have created.

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Sasaki Lina is 29. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: **the Pain arc is still going to happen, I'm making Sasuke come back too, but Shinobi Alliance arc is still going to happen, as well as anything that didn't directly involve him in the anime/manga.** I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?) Enjoy!

_**PLEASE REVIEW! COMMENT, ANYTHING! THANKS :D**_

**Chapter 12**

"Come on guys, get up. It's time to go." A somewhat familiar voice was the first thing I heard on the third day of the mission. _'Shizune?'_ I opened my eyes and peeked out of my tent, looking for the source of the voice. What I found next was kind of hilarious. I'd forgotten that everyone had slept in their disguises the previous night, so when I looked around, I saw a 30-ish year old woman packing her bag. She looked like our team leader, and yet had the voice of the Hokage's assistant. _'Right, Lina-san.'_ Looking around, I saw a miniature Kakashi with black hair and my eyes (or, well, eye, considering the other was covered by a black eye patch) helping clean up the camp site. I looked over at Raidou's stuff, and saw his new self starting to pack up too. We looked so odd, it was always funny to see people I knew in disguises. Lina shot me a look that could only have said 'get up'. Sighing, I got up, stretched, and set to work. Today was the day we finally arrived at Water Country. We'd arrived at the edge of Fire Country yesterday, but we stayed in the forest and got an actually good amount of rest. Good thing, because today the work really began.

"Genma-san." I looked up from folding my tent up and saw Lina standing in front of me.

"Yeah?"

"I was thinking last night, we need to make up names for ourselves. Obviously we can't use our real names because we're all too well-known for that. So I was thinking, how about Ukiya as our last name? It's not hard to remember, and it's a native last name for the town we'll be going into. There are lots of variations, and so many people with that last name that no one will blink if we say it."

"Ukiya...yeah that's sounds good. My name'll be…Reiji."

"Ok, and I'm Sasaki. I'll just use my last name as my first name, that'll be simple enough." Lina turned to Kakashi and Raidou and said, "Guys, you need to think of names too."

"Ryo." Lina smiled. How fitting, considering that was the first half of the word 'Hound'.

"Umm...Souta." Lina's heart nearly stopped when she heard Raidou say that name. Of all the names he could choose, he chose the one that hurt her the most, the name of the first boy she'd fallen in love with, and the name of the boy who's fate had ultimately made her leave the village.

"Actually, I think Hatori would suit you better." The tension in Lina's voice was almost palpable, and it made everyone look up. For a moment, no one spoke.

"Lina-chan." A deep voice made Genma turn around. A few feet away, near Lina's bags and scrolls stood a golden retriever. Lina responded to him like it was nothing.

"Yes, Dai-chan?" The dog let out a low growl, making Lina roll her eyes. "What is it, _Daisuke_." The dog cleared his throat and spoke again.

"Don't you think you should introduce me to your group? I've already met Kakashi, but not these two." He could smell Kakashi's scent, even if the boy was disguised as a child. He noticed 2 males, 1 a disguised child and another an older man. They both stopped what they were doing and approached him. Kakashi had finished packing up and was now standing near Lina.

"Guys, this is Daisuke, my ninken. He's the boss of the ninken back in their dimension. Dai-chan, this is Raidou-san and Genma-san. They are obviously in henge form, but you won't have to worry about that as long as you remember what they smell like." Daisuke paced toward the two unknowns and started sniffing them, recording their scents.

"Why does he have to know our scents?" Genma asked. He hadn't known that anyone else had ninken, so this was a surprise. By the looks of it, Raidou was surprised as well.

"We don't know what's going to happen. In case I need to summon him, don't you think it would be a good idea for him to know what you smell like? As it is, he wouldn't know if you were one of us or not, and would attack on sight. He knows Kakashi-san because they met before during my test, which I'm assuming you've heard all about, but he's never met you two. Better safe than sorry."

"How do you have ninken? I thought that was strictly a Kakashi thing?" Raidou asked the question Genma was thinking.

"Oh, he's the ninken that is bonded with my clan. Only the eldest child of the clan ever bonds with him, because the eldest is generally the one who inherits leadership." Lina didn't mention her misgivings that she would still become leader, considering how she'd disgraced the village and clan, as well as her being disowned. True, she was almost positive that it was just a spur of the moment act on her mother's part, and she was sure her father, grandmother, and siblings would try and convince her mother to allow her back into the family, but getting cut off from her family had broken something in her. Even if she was to be welcomed back, she wasn't sure she would want to be the leader of the family.

"Speaking of those 8, I'm assuming they already know Raidou and Genma's scents, Kakashi? Daisuke asked. Kakashi nodded. "Good, and I know they already know Lina-chan's scent. Who's team leader here, you, Kakashi?"

Kakashi shook his head and Lina grinned. "Nope, I am."

Daisuke raised his doggy eyebrow and said, "Oh? Well, I've got these two's scents recorded. Is there anything else?" Lina shook her head. Daisuke nodded and said, "Alright, then I'm going. Good luck on your mission. Lina-chan, be careful."

Lina smiled. "Thanks, Dai-chan." He scowled again before poofing away. She turned to the group.

"So, we all ready?" Everyone nodded.

"Alright then, Ryo-chan, Hatori-chan,, help Daddy carry the luggage with one hand and hold my hand with your other one. Sweetie, give me a couple of the bags. How's your back?" Lina dived into the cover story and began using the names like they were real. The rest of the group immediately understood and began doing the same.

"Mama, are we almost there?" 'Ryo' asked. Lina smiled down, knowing it was all for show, and said, "Almost. We should be there by tonight. So just a little more patience, ok?" Ryo nodded.

"Sasaki, we're all set." Lina looked up and saw her 'husband' looking at her. Nodding, she gave him a sweet smile and tugged on her kids' arms. "Aaaand we're off!"

To any passerby they would have looked like an ordinary family. The kids broke loose of their mother's grip after a short while and ran ahead of the parents, playing tag and 'exploring' while carrying their packs. Kakashi and Raidou made sure to cause just enough trouble so that they would actually look and sound like kids. The group took several breaks, accommodating for 'the children'. While pretending to seem carefree, every member was still on high alert, wondering if they would feel another chakra presence again, but none of them did.

By mid-afternoon they had arrived at the docks where passenger boats were being rented.

"We're here!" Joyous cries from Kakashi and Raidou rang out as they ran towards the ticketing area. Stopping, they both turned towards their parents and yelled, "COME ON!" Lina glanced at Genma, and noticed he was smiling.

"Well, honey? We're here." Genma looked at her, his face not at all fazed by the endearment. He switched the packs he was carrying onto one hand and wrapped the other one around her, the picture of the perfect husband, winked and said, "Yes, darling, we are." Lina had to resist the urge to push him away. She had almost forgotten how much of a jerk he was, but hearing him talk to her in such a familiar tone brought it all back. Swallowing hard, she put on a sweet smile, and walked towards her kids.

"Alright, guys! Now, while Daddy goes and pays for the tickets, you two are going to stay with me. Are either of you hungry?" The boys shook their heads. Nodding, Lina sat down. She let the boys 'explore' a few metres away from her (exploring was the cover for the boys overhearing conversations and mapping out the landscape for an escape route should anything happen), and allowed her mind to drift.

"Hey there, little lady. You all by yourself?" A gruff callous voice sounded from beside her. Turning her head, she saw 1 rough looking man being flanked by 2 buff ones. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Lina simply shook her head.

"I don't see anyone with you, do you guys?" "No, boss." "Nope, I don't." The two men chuckled coarsely.

"I'm married with two kids. Thanks, but no thanks." Lina turned away, already planning her escape strategy. Yell and scream? Signal Genma for help? She knew he was watching, and they'd all gone over the signals. From the corner of her eye she saw Kakashi and Raidou tense a little, but still pretended to be looking around.

"Aww come on, sugar. Don't say that. You know, I always did like a woman with a little more meat on her bones." At this Lina's eyebrows rose. _'Did he just…?'_ She saw her teammates all widen their eyes and she swore she saw Kakashi chuckle. Deciding she needed to show her teammates she could handle herself, she turned back towards the men.

"Did you just call me fat?"

The 2 men were apparently smarter than their 'boss', because at this sentence they both looked taken aback. The man in the middle, however, didn't notice at all. If anything, he actually leaned in forward, as if he was thrilled she'd responded to him, even if it was an accusation.

"Ahhh, there we go. Now that I've gotten a good look at you, you really are quite pretty, huh? And I said I liked a little meat on my women, what's wrong with that. It just means there's more to grab."

At the last word he reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her towards him, in the process making her stand. Immediately her mind froze and instinct took over. It was over in a split second. She grabbed a hold of a fat meaty finger on his hand he'd used to grab her waist and twisted it backwards painfully, spinning her body out of his grasp. She got behind him, bending his arm behind his back, still only holding his finger of that arm, and planted her other palm on his back, bending him forward. He was effectively rendered helpless. If he tried to get up his arm would come out of its socket, and going further down would only give Lina more power. Luckily, Lina's body had only used the most basic of self defense that women were taught in Konoha, and hadn't gone into full 'kunoichi' mode. It wasn't even considered taijutsu, but it worked against this ordinary thug.

"Now, why couldn't you leave me alone? Look at what you made me do…"

"Boss!" The two idiots stared at him dumbly as he gasped in surprise.

"I-idiots! Get her!" They immediately advanced towards her, but Lina raised her head and smiled a feral smile at the two.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Not unless you WANT me to break your boss's arm." At this the two looked at each other. Lina could practically see the cogs turning in their slow minds. On one hand, they had orders from their boss to 'get her'. But on the other hand, they both could see that this girl was not kidding about breaking his arm. Finally, it seemed that they had decided to follow their boss. Tentatively they stepped towards her. Immediately, Lina pulled her captive's arm up, increasing the pain and at the same time lowering him further.

"Waaait! Stop! Don't come any closer!" The man wailed, and his henchmen stopped. Lina smiled.

"See? You should have left me well enough alone."

"Sasaki? What's going on?" Lina turned her head and saw Genma had finished buying tickets and was now a few feet away from her. Giving him a sickly sweet smile she said, "Nothing, honey." and released the man. He immediately collapsed to the ground before getting up quickly.

"Y-y-you'll regret this!" Lina whipped her head toward the men and gave them a death glare. All three shrank back and ran for the hills. Turning back to Genma, she found he wasn't there anymore. She turned her head from side to side but suddenly felt 2 arms wrap themselves around her from behind. Looking down, she recognized them as Genma's henge'd arms, but she didn't understand why he felt the need to do that.

"You just _had_ to go and make a scene, didn't you?" Genma whispered as he pretended to be loving. Lina's body stiffened, and she had to fight the urge to stomp on his feet.

She turned around and wrapped her hands around his waist, also pretending. "And where were you, exactly? I was alone. What, did you want the boys to do something? Besides, it's not like I used chakra, I didn't even use taijutsu. Who says that a civilian woman can't also know self defense?" Looking up into Genma's eyes from her position at the base of his neck, she shot him a glare that was masked by a smile. She felt his arms tighten around her before he relaxed.

"I'm glad you're ok." He said this aloud.

"Mama, what happened?" Lina turned and saw her boys running towards her. Shaking her head, she smiled and said, "Nothing, babies. Come on, Daddy bought the tickets. We should get going before they leave us behind."

"Mama! We're not babies!" Raidou pretended to protest, and Lina smiled. He gave her a knowing look, and she knew he'd only said that to get her mind off what had happened. Raidou was actually a lot more perceptive than she'd thought.

She reached down to him and ruffled his head. "Oh really? Well, I guess you're right, you're not babies anymore. You're my little men." Kakashi's eye widened and Lina shot him a wink. Before either of the boys could say any more, Lina steered them towards the ship, grabbing the packs as she went. "Come on then, little men. Let's go." She felt Genma come up beside her and they both walked toward the ships.

When they got onto the ship, they were greeted by the captain, a tall kindly looking man.

"Good afternoon, I'm your captain, Uotani Hatsuharu. Please call me Haru. Welcome to the Uotani Express. We serve as a ferry between Fire and Water Country."

"Good afternoon. I'm Ukiya Reiji, and this is my family. This is my wife, Sasaki, and our boys Ryo and Hatori." Genma introduced everyone, aiming for the 'sweet old man' guise. Lina and the boys nodded their hellos, and the captain led them to their cabin.

"You arrived at the last minute, so you missed the tour of the ship, but if you like I'm sure we can find someone to be your guide."

"Oh no, that's not necessary. I'm sure we'll be able to find our way just fine. Thank you for your kindness." Lina said sweetly.

The captain nodded. "So, what are you doing in Bofu Island? Visiting relatives? I know almost everyone on the island."

"No, we're on vacation!" Kakashi piped up, pretending to be the precocious kid he resembled. The captain smiled and bent down to Kakashi's level.

"Oh you are, are you? That's really lucky, Bofu Island is beautiful this time of year." Genma had to bite back a laugh when he heard Captain Haru talking to Kakashi in such a manner. While walking around the ship, the team noticed that while the ship had looked quite small at first sight, it was in fact large enough to fit several families as well as allow a play area for children. While it was plain, it was still large enough to be comfortable, and the plain-ness only added to its coziness . Before long, they'd arrived at their cabin.

"Well, here we are. If there's anything you need, just give me a shout. Dinner is at 6 in the mess on the floor below. It's a buffet-style setting, and you're welcome to bring your plates back to your room if you'd like. Well, I think that's it. I hope you settle in alright, and I'll see you around the ship!" With that the captain left the group to look at their surroundings. Even though they seemed alone, the group knew it was relatively easy to set up spy equipment in a room undetected, so they kept their disguises on.

Lina looked into their cabin, and noticed 2 beds. Pacing around the room, she let out a thin, small thread of chakra and allowed it to probe every inch of the room. She found nothing suspicious, but rather than let her guard down so easily she walked into the bathroom and probed further. Again, nothing, so she came back into the room and made sure all entrances were shut, doors, windows, etc. Not satisfied, she turned to mini-Kakashi. She wanted to ask him to use his nose and tracking abilities to see if he could sense anything weird, but if she had missed something and she out and asked him, then their cover would be blown. So, she plastered a motherly smile on her face and walked over to him.

"Oh, just look at you, you look exhausted! Come here, baby." She pretended to fuss over him as her teammates looked between them, bewildered. Holding in a position where he was mostly covered, she whispered in his ear. "Use your nose. Anything suspicious? I can't sense anything, but you're better than me." Kakashi nodded into her shoulder and surreptitiously lifted up his eye patch to reveal the sharingan. Taking a quick look around over Lina's shoulder, didn't notice anything. He place the patch over his eye again and said, "We're good." Finally satisfied, she let go of him and let down her henge.

"Thanks. We can talk freely here, there's no one spying on us." Her team members each let down their own disguises.

Keeping her voice down, Lina said, "We've got a couple of hours before dinner. Now, I doubt that we'll get much information from around the ship but you never know. So, we'll pretend to be the perfect family. Kakashi-san, Raidou-san, your main job is to eavesdrop. Pretend to...well be kids. No one will pay attention to you. Genma-san, you and I will walk around and see if we can't make friends with someone useful." When she was done, Lina sighed and said in a normal voice, "Well, let's unpack and do some exploring, shall we? Let's see if we can't have a look around before dinner begins." This was a code for 'time to start gathering information', just in case there was someone walking past the door.

When everything was put away, the 'family' left their room and went around the ship. Resurfacing on deck, they noticed a couple of families sitting together. The kids were mingling, playing and laughing as they ran around the deck. Lina nudged her own 'kids' towards them and said, "Go on. Go play. But don't go too far, stay where I can see you." Turning to Genma she intertwined her arms around his and said, "Let's go have a look around."

The two walked up and down the deck, acting like the perfect couple. They smiled and said hello to a few of the families, exchanging small talk. One particular family caught her eye. A short plump woman and her average looking husband were sitting at one corner of the deck, watching their kids, a young girl whose hair was fiery orange like her mother's and an older preteen-age boy who had his father's brown hair and his mother's green eyes, which were framed by black rimmed glasses. They seemed like the perfect family as well, the two siblings each reading a book.

"You really think that couple will be useful?" Lina turned and looked at Genma.

"I don't know, but I want to go talk to them." Lina and Genma walked towards the couple and waved.

"Hello, there."

"Hi." The couple replied politely. After a moment of silence, Lina cleared her throat.

"Ahem, I'm Ukiya Sasaki, this is my husband Reiji. I was just telling him how well behaved your children are. I can hardly get my boys to sit still while they eat." The couple laughed lightly. "Oh, it tends to get a bit boring when the kids act so mature, you know?" The woman said. "My name is Hanajima Tsubaki, this is my husband Kenta. This is Makoto, he's 13, and Yuki, she's 8. Kids, say hello."

Lina turned her head to call to her 'boys'. "Ryo, 'Tori, come say hello." Kakashi and Raidou ran over. "This is Ryo and Hatori. Ryo's 8, and Hatori's 10." They each waved as Makoto and Yuki stood up and bowed politely. Laughing awkwardly, Lina wrapped her arms around Kakashi and Raidou, saying "Wow, so polite! See, boys, why can't you be like that?" Kakashi rolled his eye and Raidou blushed slightly.

"Why do you wear a mask? And why do you have a scar?" Yuki asked Kakashi and Raidou. A second passed before Tsubaki laughed loudly, squeezing her daughter's shoulders. "Honey, what did we say about asking inappropriate questions? Sorry, about that, she's at that age, you know. Everything's a question."

Lina shook her head. "No, it's fine, I understand, Ryo here is the same way. There was a fire a few years ago. Reiji was out working, and I was trapped, and my boys saved me. Ryo's injuries were worse than Tori's so he started wearing a mask." After telling the story, Lina wrapped her arms around the boys and hugged them close.

"Oh my, that's terrible. I'm so sorry, we didn't mean to pry." Tsubaki said.

"It's alright. These two are my heroes." Kakashi and Raidou turned around and squeezed her back. Lina looked up at Genma and gave him a 'loving' smile, which he returned, patting the boys' heads. After a moment, Lina let go.

"So, are you visiting family? We're on vacation."

"No, we're actually going home. We were visiting family in the town we just left." The two families made small talk, the children talking about their hobbies while the adults got more acquainted. Soon it was dinner, and they all proceeded to the lower deck, where the medium-sized hall was full with round family-size tables, and the walls were lined with tables with trays of food.

"Shall we all sit together?" Kenta suggested. Lina looked at her team and wondered if it was a good idea. Deciding it was fine, she smiled and nodded "Sure. Kids, go pick up your plates and grab some food."

The rest of the dinner went by uneventfully, and soon after the ship docked at Bofu Island.

"Dear Passengers. We have now arrived at Bofu Island. Welcome, and we hope you enjoy your stay. Please remember to take all your belongings with you. Enjoy your stay, and thank you for boarding the Uotani Express."

The message was heard over the speakers placed around the ship as passengers emptied out their cabins and filed out. Stepping onto land, Lina and Genma bid a thank you to Captain Haru, and said goodbye to the Hanajima family before setting off towards the inn. It was now nearly 11pm, and the team was eager to get to their final destination. They walked for several minutes, passing closed shops and darkened houses before they came across the inn they were looking for. Letting go of Lina's hand, Genma strode into the inn. When he was done he waved the 'family' over and they walked into room 104.

Thinking there was a separate room, she turned to Genma. "Where's the other room?"

Genma looked at her and said, "What other room?" A flash of realization swept over Lina's face, but she kept herself in check. Lina gave Kakashi a look and nodded to him. He nodded back and sniffed around. After a few moments he shook his head in a 'no we're not safe' manner. Lina's gaze hardened and she strode into the washroom, Kakashi following her. Once again, he sniffed and heightened his hearing. Here, he found nothing, so he turned to Lina and nodded his head. Why whoever was spying on them had decided to set up the room but not the bathroom was beyond her.

Lina poked her head out of the bathroom and waved the other two of her teammates in. It was slightly cramped, even with 2 kids. Lina let down her henge and said, "Alright guys. So, it looks like this is the only place we can be ourselves. The room is set up, and I don't know if it's got both audio and visual or just one or the other, so be careful what you say in there. " The boys nodded and promptly let down their henges. With the extra body mass, even with Genma's shrinking gut and Lina's original stature, the bathroom was so cramped that Lina had to hop onto the counter to make more room. When they were done, Lina rounded on Genma.

"What are you thinking? Only 2 beds, where am I going to sleep?!"

Genma looked at her oddly. Well, he tried to as he squirmed for more room. "What do you mean? You'll be sleeping with me, like a normal couple would. Our 'kids' sleep together. What, did you expect me to spend more money and buy us 2 separate rooms? Get a grip, I'm not rich. Besides, this is all for show." Lina glared at him.

"Kakashi-san, when you found the spying jutsus, did you notice any blind spots?" Kakashi shook his head. "Nope, whoever put them there covered their bases."

Lina nodded. "But I don't understand why they left the bathroom with nothing." Kakashi shrugged.

Shaking her head, Lina put on her henge again and walked out of the bathroom. She looked at the time on the alarm clock on the bedside table standing between the two beds. It was now nearly midnight. Looking back at the walls where the spying jutsus were placed, Lina shook her head again. This mission was going to be a pain in the ass if the only way she'd be able to talk to her team without fear of eavesdroppers was in the bathroom.

"Well, it's really late. Kids, why don't you change into your pj's and go brush your teeth and go to sleep? And no complaining, you're already way past your bed time." Lina turned around to see Genma stripping into just an undershirt and loose-fitting pants. Lina paused for a moment, before turning her back to him and changing as well. _'What the hell, it's not like he's looking at MY body anyway.' _After putting on their sleepwear, Genma and Lina proceeded to wait for the boys to finish up in the bathroom. After everyone had completed their preparations for sleep, Lina hugged Kakashi and Raidou good night before lightly pecking Genma on the cheek. Turning off the lights, the 'family' all went to sleep.

Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

"Transmission 15: Targets have arrived at the destination. Awaiting orders." An anonymous note was sealed and disintegrated into thin air, casting the particles into the wind towards Konoha before it rematerialized into parchment in front of a certain elderly cloaked and cane-using man. The man silently wrote back "Keep watching." on the parchment before allowing it to leave once more.

-end-

Author's Note: So, this chapter wasn't as much action-filled as I'd anticipated, cuz I forgot that they still had a whole day before they got to Water Country. So yeah, filler chapter. But! The next chapter is for the most part written, only proofreading and such left, and since I've already written it I can confidently say it is action-filled haha. Should be posted by tomorrow or the day after. So sorry for the delays, exams were hell on me =.= but yeah, please review/comment! Btw, since school is now officially over, I have much more time to write, so I'll be hopefully posting back to twice a week, now that the story is finally back on track.


	13. Chapter 13

**Something I wanted to mention, just cuz it's somewhat relevant to the story: right after the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime, the Pain arc starts. Now, I personally want to develop more of the Lina/Kakashi/rest of the gang's relationships, so I'm stretching the time frame just a bit. Pain invasion won't come for a few chapters.**

As always, please review, comment, write something! I'm dying to know what you guys think. Ja ne! ;)

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. I do, however, own any original ideas or characters (such as Sasaki Lina) that I have created.

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Sasaki Lina is 29. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: **the Pain arc is still going to happen, I'm making Sasuke come back too, but Shinobi Alliance arc is still going to happen, as well as anything that didn't directly involve him in the anime/manga.** I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?) Enjoy!

_**PLEASE REVIEW! COMMENT, ANYTHING! THANKS :D**_

_**TYPO FROM LAST CHAPTER: Sorry guys, I said in the last chapter that the transmission was transmission 15, when it was supposed to be 5. I was initially planning on writing a whole lot more transmissions to give you guys a bit of a timeline, and I actually had the chapter written ahead of time, but when I decided against it I forgot to change the numbers. Also:**_

_**Heitai = Subordinate (Eg. Taichou = Captain, Heitai = subordinate)**_

_**Anyway, that's all. Now go ahead and read this new chappie :)**_

**Chapter 13**

The next few days, the team pretended to be a family, casually making acquaintances with the innkeeper. Gradually, they found tidbits of information that began to fit into something of a puzzle. There were several large men who stayed in a couple of rooms on the floor below them, and the entire team agreed that they didn't like them. Mostly because whenever the family saw them, the men would have their eyes on Kakashi and Raidou (who were of course in henge). The looks they received were nothing short of leers, as if those men could see right through their clothes onto their bodies. It was sickening. But after a few more days, it seemed that the team had gotten no further than some random pieces of information and some strange looks. Because they were outsiders, the team had hit a dead end. At least, until Raidou got lucky.

The family had decided to go for a walk, and Raidou 'happened' to lose his ball that he'd been playing with, right around the area that acted as a ledge that overlooked a small clearing where a small group of the creepy men were gathered. After noticing the men, he motioned to Kakashi to come watch with him, but silently told Genma and Lina to stay, as they would be seen because the ledge was so small with only a few trees for coverage. Genma and Lina pretended to be oblivious of their children's sudden disappearance, at least for a short while. As Kakashi and Raidou looked down, they watched the men discuss something.

"What are they saying? Can you hear?" Raidou asked Kakashi. Kakashi nodded. "They're saying something about a drop-off. A new shipment. Wait, look." Raidou looked back at the band of men and saw a poor-looking civilian couple handing over a barrel big enough to fit a child. The couple looked pained, and the shinobi could see the barrel visibly shaking. They were a bit too far away, so it was only Kakashi who could hear the muffled yells of a female coming from inside, but Raidou didn't need the super-hearing to know who was in there. Grimly, they watched as the civilian couple handed over their child with pained expressions on their faces and received payment from the sneering men.

"Look at you. What kind of parents allow their children to be sold off? Aren't parents supposed to protect their young? You two really are awful." The gang of men mocked the couple, laughing as they roughly took the barrel. "SHUT UP!" The man holding the barrel gave it a harsh shake, causing the noise inside to lessen slightly.

"Quiet, do you want everyone in the whole island to know what we're doing?" Another man smacked the first one on their head, and the entire group fell silent, looking around. Slowly, they dispersed and went off in different directions. As they walked away, Raidou and Kakashi watched as the mother looked back more than once, until finally her husband dragged her away by the arm, his face also showing anguish. Before they could fully disappear, Kakashi also noticed that the couple was staying in the same in they were, if the room key dangling in the man's pocket was any indication. Exchanging looks, Raidou and Kakashi went back to their 'parents', who welcomed them with open arms, making a show of telling them never to disappear again. The boys gave their parents a look and then team silently agreed to go back to the inn to discuss what the boys had seen/heard.

XXX

"Well?" Under the pretense of giving the boys baths, the 4 teammates were now crammed in the bathroom, Genma sitting and leaning on the far wall facing the door, Kakashi sitting right in front of the door, Lina dangling her feet off the counter, and Raidou sitting on the bathtub ledge.

"It looks like we may have stumbled on a sex trafficking ring in the inn. Not sure, but that's what it looked like. There were only a few guys, and I didn't see some of the ones we've been seeing around the inn, so there must be a bigger group. There was a civilian couple, and they were handing a barrel over to the men and getting money in return. I couldn't hear anything, but the barrel was shaking, so I think there was a kid in there." Raidou looked at Kakashi for assurance, and Kakashi continued.

"Yeah, I could hear her. 12, maybe 13 years old?"

"Just about time to hit puberty, when the hormones are starting to go nuts. Damn. But we still don't know if it's just sex trafficking or if they're working with Kabuto." Lina said, and Genma arched his eyebrow.

"_Just_ sex trafficking?" Lina looked at him before shaking her head. "Not what I meant. Of course, if that's what it is than that's terrible, and we have to do something about it."

"But you do know the mission comes first, right Taichou?" Kakashi could see that Lina was getting riled up about the children, and he found it prudent to remind her what the mission really was. He'd seen so many shinobi in her position who had gone for a personal vendetta instead of focusing on what they were really after, and it never ended well.

Lina looked at Kakashi's unreadable face. Of course she knew that, but didn't those children deserve to be let free? She told him as much.

"Yeah, I know, _heitai_, but that doesn't mean I'm going to just sit back and let those bastards get away with sex trafficking, now does it?" She glared at him before continuing. "Now, I know I'm captain, which means you have to follow my order if I say so, but for this, I'm going to give all of you a choice. We _will_ complete the mission, find as much information about Kabuto and Akatsuki as possible. But if I find a way to make those men pay for taking children away from their families, then I will go for it. You have the choice of following me or going home. I won't say anything in the official report, so you don't have to worry, and if anyone asks, you can tell them that I went on a solo mission and told you nothing. Alright?" She didn't really expect her teammates to be so heartless as to leave the children alone, but then again, she wasn't a jounin who had done countless assassination missions. Those missions had a way of hardening the heart, putting up walls that were nearly impossible to be broken. As she looked around the small bathroom, she saw no one resisting the idea of helping out the children, well except Kakashi. She still couldn't read his face. After a moment, they moved on.

"Alright, so what's the plan?" Genma asked impatiently.

"For right now, we don't have much to go on. We don't know whether Kabuto or the Akatsuki are involved in this, so we can't just jump in in case we spook them. We'll need to see if we can get more out of these guys."

"What if we infiltrate the group?" Kakashi suggested.

"How? Pretend to be a trafficker? I don't think they'll be that willing to split profits with us, do you?"

"No, but I was thinking we could pretend to be one of those children being shipped off. I'm mean, think about it. We're a family on vacation at the same inn that's got an underground business going on the side. Raidou and I are the exact age these perverts are looking for, and we're both shinobi so it's not like we can't take care of ourselves."

"No, absolutely not. I'm not having either of you go off on your own. Remember that we don't know how many guys are in this thing. What if there _are_ shinobi? What if the entire Akatsuki comes and one of them figures out who you two are? No, I'm not taking that risk."

"What other option do you have? We need to find out what's going on, we've been here a week, which means we only have 3 left. Besides, you know as well as any of us that to get the mission completed the team sometimes has to split the workload. It's unfair to assume that we'll still together the whole time. And anyway, it's highly unlikely that the entire Akatsuki will come after us." Kakashi had a point and Lina knew it, but the last time she'd let one of her teammates decide something was 13 years ago, and that had gotten them killed. She wasn't about to let the same thing happen over a decade later. But, she really didn't have another choice.

"Lina-san, it'll be fine. Kakashi is an ex-ANBU, and I'm a tokubetsu jonin. We're good at our job, which is part of the reason why the Hokage put us on this mission." Lina looked at Raidou's determined face, and sighed. She was being overprotective, and she knew it. If she could have it her way, none of the others would ever have to leave the inn save to leave the island and go home. But she couldn't, so she nodded her agreement.

"Good. Now, how do we do this? We have no idea how to contact those guys, or how they operate." Genma had a point, but Lina had an idea.

Turning to Kakashi, she said, "Kakashi-san. You're Sharingan...is it fully functional?" Kakashi shook his head. "No, it takes more chakra than normal since the extra is used to convert energy to keep the connections working between the eye and my brain. And there's a longer wait time between uses, again because of the eye not being mine. And of course there's the fact that I can't turn it off. Other than that, I can do basic first level Sharingan stuff, and I can use Kamui for the Mangekyo Sharingan, but only for a few times, and no Amaterasu." Lina nodded. "Can you use Tsukuyomi?" Kakashi's eye widened in understanding. "No, but I'm proficient enough in genjutsu to knock those guys out."

"Yeah, I can imagine so, but I would prefer to use Tsukuyomi just because it's so quick. Ah well, genjutsu it is. But we're not doing it on those men. In case Kabuto gets wind of it, if he _is_ in fact involved, then there will be trouble."

"Then who are we going to put the genjutsu on?"

"That couple we saw earlier. You said you saw a room key to this inn right? Well, we'll have to find the couple and put them under and force them to cooperate. Maaaa. I wish there was a jutsu for hypnosis or something, some way to turn the couple's minds back to the exchange, how they met the men, to show us more information. The Yamanaka Clan's Mind techniques would come in handy right about now."

"Aaaahh! There is! The Time Reversal Technique!" Genma exclaimed.

"The what?" Lina looked around blankly.

"Ahh, good thinking Genma. He's right, the Time Reversal Technique is something that all ANBU are taught as a form of interrogation. Basically the subject is hypnotized and their mind turns back in time to recall whatever they're being interrogated about." Kakashi finished explaining the jutsu's details, and Lina's smile widened at the prospect of them finding out what they needed to know.

"Alright, thanks for explaining all that. Now, we need to find where the couple is staying, and get to them tonight, in case they decide to leave. But we can't just go knocking on each door. Genma, you go down to the front desk and weasel the info out of the innkeeper." It was a good thing the team had been able to become casual friends with him.

"Right." Genma walked out of the bathroom and out the door, leaving Lina inside the room while the two boys pretended to be finishing up their baths.

"Kakashi-san, Raidou-san, do either of you know how to erase memories?"

"The Yondaime Hokage taught me the Mind Seal Technique, same as Genma."

"Alright, Raidou-san. After we get our information we'll need to cover our tracks, so you need to seal the couples' memories of us."

"Got it."

Minutes later, Genma came back.

"How about we go out and eat?" Taking this to mean he'd found out what room the couple was in, Lina nodded and corralled the boys out of the room. As soon as the door closed she turned to Genma.

"Lead the way. Ryo, get ready." The group made their way to the civilians' room and knocked on the door. When it opened, the husband stepped out.

"Yes? Can I help you?"

"Yes, may we come in? We have something we'd like to discuss with you, in private." Being a civilian who lived in an area that had not had any conflict in years, the man's guard was completely down, and so without further questions he opened the door and let the family in, possibly thinking they needed to use the restroom or something and he was being a good person.

When they walked in, the team immediately transformed back into their original states.

"Sir, I know this looks scary, and you've probably got a lot of questions, but we're here to help you." Lina tried to explain. Bad idea.

"What the hell is going on?!" The man yelled before Genma and Kakashi could muffle him.

"Ok, look. We're here to help you get your kid back." At this the man's face blanched. "We saw you and your wife earlier today, with those men, and we want to help you." Hearing this, the man stopped struggling and sat down. Cautiously, Genma and Kakashi let go of him, ready to silence him again if necessary.

"Why?" The man finally spoke, both suspicious and scared. After all, it wasn't every day that 4 strangers transformed into a family knocked on your door and offered their assistance in bringing your daughter home.

"Because we want to stop those men you were with. But we need a way in. We're going to put you under a hypnosis technique to get as much information out of you. It won't damage you at all, but you need to be willing to help us. You _do_ want your daughter back, right?" Lina had never been good at negotiations, and she was terrible at sweet-talking information out of people, so she just used the blunt approach. Worst case scenario, she'd force the information out of them.

"O-o-of course I do!"

"Good. By the way, where's your wife?"

"I-I'm here." A small voice came out of the bathroom. As the wife came out to greet the group, it was apparent that she'd been hiding in the bathroom, listening in on the conversation. She walked quickly towards her husband and they sat down on the bed, holding onto each other.

"Hey, it's alright. I know you're scared, but we're the good guys. But we need to know as much information as possible, so we're going to hypnotise you now. Relax, you won't feel a thing." Kakashi soothingly calmed the couple down before nodding at their readiness. Lina nodded her go-ahead and Kakashi formed the seals to perform the Time Reversal Technique. Instantly, the couple's eyes closed and their heads dropped to their chest. Quickly, Kakashi and Genma determined the necessary information to get them in.

"How did you find out about this group?" The man nodded. "There were several raids on our village a few months back from neighboring towns' gang of thieves, and a rash of kidnappings happened while everyone was trying to defend their crops. There was a rumor that someone was taking the children to experiment on them, but we were never sure. But everyone who had their kids taken were given money, and eventually the kidnappers started taking over the whole town, and people were so poor they had no choice but to give up their children. We have 3 other kids, 2 boys and a girl. Nozomi-chan is our oldest, so we thought she would have the best chance of surviving until we could bring her back."

"Did the men give you any names? I want you to recount the first time you met with them. Where did you meet them?" The group listened as the husband slowly went back through the previous few months, combing through each encounter with a fine tooth comb until the group had a pretty good idea of what had happened.

"We were told by some of the people who'd had to give up their children that there were specific types of children that the men were looking for. Our Nozomi-chan fit the criteria-" The wife drew in a shuddered breath. "-and we were so poor we had no choice. We found out that they were staying in this inn, so we decided to come."

Seeing the wife's distress, Lina whispered in Kakashi's ear, "Can you undo the jutsu for her? We don't want any lasting damage on her." Kakashi shook his head. "I can, but there won't be any damage as long as she remains perceptive to the technique." Lina looked up at him. "Yeah, but how long do you think she's going to remain 'perceptive'? She's obviously uncomfortable, her mind's going to try and block the memories out and she's going to start resisting." Kakashi looked down at her before looking towards Genma. It wasn't that he didn't trust her judgement, but he'd teamed up with Genma far longer, and he _knew_ HE was a good judge. Genma shrugged at Kakashi, as if to say, "It's your choice". Looking back at Lina, Kakashi sighed.

"Raidou, I'm going to release her. Make sure she doesn't scream or anything." Raidou nodded and stood next to her, prepared to knock her out if necessary. Kakashi pressed a hand to the woman's forehead and said, "Release!" The woman immediately woke up, at first in a state of shock before her mind registered the people around her. Immediately she asked "Did we help? Did you find anything? Can you bring back our Nozomi-chan?" Raidou calmly led her slightly away from the group and sat her down against the wall. "We're still gathering information. It'll just be a little while longer." The woman nodded and sighed, as if the weight of the world were sitting on her shoulders.

The group continued their interrogation. "You said there was a specific type of children the men were looking for. Explain." Genma said, tersely. This interrogation was taking longer than expected, and he didn't want to draw suspicion on the group. Considering they'd left their room for 'dinner', it was fine for the spies in there to think they were still out, but what if someone was passing by as the group came out of this room? What if the person passing by was one of the men? There were too many risks.

"The men seemed to only be looking for pre-pubescent children. They have to be between the ages of 9 and 13, depending on if they're male or female. Other than that, they wanted children who seemed to stand out. Our Nozomi-chan was always a strong girl, and they wanted someone who could be a leader, but our neighbour's kids were taken because they were shy." This new information further confirmed that the rash of kidnappings had little to do with sex slavery and more to do with experiments. If Kabuto or whoever was hiding behind the group was picking off children as test subjects, it would be necessary to collect a wide range of subjects to test effects. With this, the group now had plenty information to approach the band of men.

"Alright, that's enough. You can release him now." Lina said to Kakashi, who nodded and released the man. After waking up, the team assured him that they would do everything they could to bring their child back. Then, Raidou sealed the couples' memories of the interaction, in case anyone came snooping, and then put them to sleep. He would seal them again once they got the girl and brought her back to their family, to completely erase their tracks.

"Done." The team left quietly before the couple could wake up and headed back to their room to plan.

XXX

The following morning the team woke up early to prepare for the long day. They'd stayed up late trying to discuss how to go about infiltrating the group. Lina was still set against Raidou and Kakashi pretending to be children to be taken away, but there was no other option. And so, they made their way back to the spot they'd noticed the men only a day earlier. Instead of cramming the children into a barrel as the other couple had done, Lina and Genma made a show of subduing the children ahead of time. When they got to the clearing, they found the group of men, minus a few, all standing around. They already had a few barrels and crates surround them, so it seemed that several other couples had already come ahead of the team. Seeing this, Lina physically clenched her jaw in disgust as she saw the men turn and leer at them.

"Well, what do we have here?" One short fat greasy-looking man waddled over. Even though Lina wanted to punch the living daylights out of him, she pretended to shrink back into Genma and cast her gaze down. Seeing this, the other men snickered as Genma wrapped his arm around his 'wife' protectively. The couple held out their hands that held their subdued boys and nudged them towards the group. No one in the group moved, waiting for an explanation. After all, no one had heard anything about another family 'submitting' to them today.

"P-please. We n-need money. We have two other children, w-we need to feed them." Lina pleaded, making a show of allowing crocodile tears to fall. Genma rearranged his face to suit one of extreme anguish and bowed his head, as if defeated.

"Oh? So you're giving up two of them to feed the other two? Maa, parents shouldn't play favorites, ne, aniki?" A thin lanky stick-figure of a man taunted Lina while addressing what looked to be the leader of the group, a tall built man with long spiked forest-green hair. The man in question smirked and came forward. He made his way towards Lina, standing right in front of her, looking down. While she'd henge'd into someone of average height, he was still taller than her by half a head. As he looked down at her, he reached up and tilted her chin up so that she met his gaze unwillingly. Genma pretended to try and stop him, but he was simply shaken off. Lina's blood was boiling with rage as she allowed the man to touch her face, but she tried desperately to show nothing in her face. However, despite her best efforts, something in her eyes must have shown through, because the 'aniki's' smirk widened.

"Looks like we've got a fighter here. She's got some spirit." For a split second the entire Team Lina froze. _Those words almost sounded like…._

"Are we taking her too?" The team held their collective breath as they waited for the leader to answer his follower's question. For a moment, there was silence.

"No. She's not pretty enough, even though she's got some fight in her." The team relaxed for a moment, thankful that their plan hadn't been ruined. Of course, Lina was furious. _'I'm not pretty enough?! Fucking bastard, if I wasn't on a mission right now I'd rip your balls of and feed them to you, then rip into your stomach and do it all over again!'_ The leader let go of her and stepped towards Kakashi and Raidou, henge'd as Ryo and Hatori. He walked a circle around each of them, inspecting them. Every now and again he would reach out and touch a body part. The first time he did it, he touched Raidou's shoulders. Lina let out a strangled sound as if she was trying to contain a scream. The leader looked up at her and sneered before touching the same area again.

"Don't touch him!" Lina let out uncontrollably.

"I don't think _you_ of all people have any right to tell me what I can and can't do with _my_ property, missy." Raidou let out a whimper, he and Kakashi's heads hanging low. In truth, both of them wanted nothing more than to kick the men's collective asses, but they had to stay focused. Even if that meant they had to play along.

"But aniki, don't we have to give them to that man from before?" One of the stupider-looking men spoke up. The leader looked at him sharply before exhaling, annoyed.

"Maa, we can have some fun before that. He won't know the difference. Here's your money, now scram." He tossed a wad of cash to Lina and Genma before turning back to Kakashi and Raidou. Putting his arms around both of their shoulders, he steered the boys away from their 'parents'.

Lina suddenly felt a clench in her stomach as Genma steered her away from the group. Turning back, she yelled out, "Ryo! Hatori! Take care of each other! We'll come back for you, I promise!" The men jeered at the couple, and Lina was forced to turn around again by Genma before she went full 'Lina' mode on them. He remembered how she'd chewed him out just a few weeks ago when he'd doubted her skills as a captain. When they were several metres away, Genma said in a hushed voice, "Time to start the plan." Lina nodded. They continued for several more metres until they were sufficiently hidden in the trees before they transformed back to their original forms and silently followed the men. Phase one had been completed : infiltration, and phase two was about to begin: tracking.

XXX

Genma and Lina stole through the forest, trailing behind the group of men currently 'holding' their companions hostage. What a joke, as if those idiots could keep Kakashi and Raidou from doing what they wanted. But there was no time for that, they had to identify the person behind the group. The team had been nearly 100% sure that Kabuto was behind everything, but it was also possible that there was someone completely unrelated doing the dirty work. Either way, they had to back up their teammates.

As they hid and watched, the two captains saw the men come across 2 bulky chaps wearing cloaks and purple sashes around their waists. Genma told Lina that that was something that many of Orochimaru's more successful subjects had adapted to wearing. Of course, this still said nothing, as there were far too many people who wore such clothing in the 5 Great Nations to pinpoint the two to Kabuto. Genma and Lina watched as the original group of men roughly pushed Kakashi and Raidou towards the two newcomers, muttering in low voices. The newcomers took hold of Kakashi and Raidou and led them away, Genma and Lina following them.

XXX

"Lookie here. Looks like we've got company." Akuma, the stockier of the two said to his partner Gorou. They'd been walking for only a few minutes when they both felt the presence of two shinobi. The two unknowns had suppressed their chakra well, but with the brandings Orochimaru had given them, Akuma and Gorou had heightened senses all the time. The brandings were different from the later-created cursed marks that Orochimaru made when injecting venom into people, and they were also far less potent, but still more sensitive than any shinobi would ever be. Neither of the shinobi looked at each other or changed their pace, but they got ready. In a flash, they had teleported away, taking the two children along with them.

XXX

"Shit, where'd they go?" Genma and Lina dropped down to where the two they'd been following had disappeared, along with Kakashi and Raidou. Lina heightened her nose, but still couldn't find a trace on Kakashi or Raidou. Immediately, she went through a series of hand seals. "What're you-" "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Daisuke 'poofed' into the world.

"Hey."

"Dai-chan, find Kakashi-san and Raidou-san."

"Jeez, no 'hi, how are you'? No 'please' or 'thank you'?"

"Daisuke, now!" The franticness in her voice made Daisuke stand up straighter. Something was wrong.

"Right. Hold on." Genma and Lina waited impatiently for several minutes before Daisuke turned back towards them.

"It's faint, but I can sense both of them 1.5 miles from here, at around 11 o'clock. But you'd better hurry, they're on the move." Lina and Genma ran in the direction, Daisuke right beside his summoner. After nearly 2 weeks of no training, and only a few months of hard training before that, Lina was starting to feel the burn in her muscle, and 3/4 of the way, she took out a soldier pill.

"Hey, you sure it's ok to take that?" Lina bit down hard on the soldier pill in response to Genma's question before answering. "I've had no training for nearly 2 weeks, and I wasn't in top shape even before that. If we want to get to them in time and still have energy to fight, I need the pills." While on the road she hadn't had enough time to fully commit to her training, and she was now starting to see the effects.

"If you say so. Don't take too many, you should know the side effects of those." Each soldier pill, while able to give shinobi extra energy and power for a short while, also had the eventual side effect of exhaustion, which was increased exponentially with each pill taken after the first. Lina nodded and concentrated on keeping up.

Nearly there, Lina felt a jolt in her stomach and then dropped down as a searing pain roared through her abdomen. _ 'This pain…'_ She'd felt this pain many times before. Her teammates Hanaki and Aoi's deaths had been preceded by this pain, as had Souta's and countless others. Lina hadn't felt this pain in the few months since she'd been back in Konoha, and so she'd almost thought that her bad luck was gone, the premonitions, everything. But here it was again, a sign that she would never be free.

"What's wrong?" Genma looked at his teammate as she crouched down, her face contorted in pain. She'd only taken one soldier pill, and the effects couldn't have set in so quickly.

"Something's wrong. Kakashi-san, Raidou-san, something's wrong with them. We have to find them." Lina clenched her stomach muscles and started moving again.

"What? How do you know that? We're not there yet." Genma caught up to her.

"I just know. Call it a gut feeling, but something's wrong." Daisuke remained silent, but even Genma could see the dog bristle. He didn't say anything, concentrating on moving forward. He'd ask later.

A short while later, they finally caught up to Kakashi and Raidou's scents, and found the two tied up and gagged, being led towards a small house, almost like a cottage. Upon further inspection they could see that the ties that were used were simple rope ties, ones that Kakashi and Raidou could surely break out of easily._ 'Good, they can get out if necessary.' _ Genma, Lina, and Daisuke watched as the group of 4 (Kakashi, Raidou, and the two leading them) went into the house. From there, there was no way to track them, so they were stuck outside. They waited for many minutes, holding onto baited breath, straining to hear any sign of disturbance that might alert them to their companions' needs. But there was nothing. Finally, it became too much.

"Dai-chan. Is there any way you can contact any of the other summons? Not necessarily dogs, anything that's small and can sneak in there undetected."

"What do you think I am, a telepath? No, I can't just connect with other summons as I please!"

"Well, how are we going to get eyes in there? We need to know what's going on!"

"Calm down, we just need to think." Genma said grimly. _'This is why I thought she wasn't ready.' _The trio thought for a moment.

"What if we henge into an animal? A bird, a squirrel, something that can sneak in?" They all knew they couldn't just storm in, that would put both Kakashi and Raidou in great harm, which would only be worse if someone dangerous was inside there with them, which at the moment looked increasingly likely.

"No, we won't be able to communicate that way. We'll just have to go in. We'll go in single file." Lina ran towards the house, staying within the blind spots of the windows, and silently looked through. Seeing nothing but furniture, she made her way around the house until she'd looked in all the windows. Seeing nothing, she gave Genma the hand sign for 'all clear'. Opening the front door, they noiselessly entered the house. Adjusting to the lack of light, Genma and Lina quickly searched all rooms together, but coming up with nothing, they were at a loss. They could both sense people in the house, and by the look Daisuke gave them, he could too. So where were they? Lina started looking for a trap door, maybe a basement or something that le cellar.

After looking into a few rooms, they came across a rug that seemed to have been moved recently. Setting it aside, they saw a large ring on the floor, which they promptly pulled, leading Genma, Lina, and Daisuke to a staircase. Daisuke went in first, followed by Lina and then Genma. Using their flashlights, Lina and Genma lit the way down the stairs as Daisuke used his nose and ears.

"We're getting close, I can sense 4 different smells. Wait-there's more, 3-no 4, no 5 others!" Daisuke whispered, stopping suddenly. Lina and Genma looked at each other and readied themselves. Finally appearing at the door that apparently blocked them from their companions, the trio saw 2 guards walking towards a door, the same 2 who had taken Kakashi and Raidou. Before either of the guards could make a sound, they were knocked out. Lina and Genma promptly transformed into them while Daisuke stowed them away in a heap at the bottom of the staircase.

"You can go back now. I'll summon you again if I need anything." Lina said to Daisuke, her voice sounding odd while in the male disguise. Daisuke nodded and 'poofed' back home. Lina looked up and nodded towards Genma. "Ready?" He nodded. "Let's go."

They opened the door and strode in, both on high alert and taking in all of their surroundings. The room that had seemed small at first was in fact a large wide space, filled with many different pieces of scientific and medical equipment. There were several stations with test tubes in them, and some bunsen burners cooked substances. Overall, the room was lit with lamps and low-hanging lights from the ceiling. As Genma and Lina walked through the room, they noticed a door on one wall near the other side of the room. Seeing as there were no children in the room they were in, they could only assume that that was where they were being kept.

"Akuma, Gorou, you're back." A quiet voice rang out of the room from behind them and they both turned, fighting the urge to widen their stances. In front of them stood Yakushi Kabuto, the man they were looking for. He'd just come out of a smaller office-looking room that was situated directly next to the door they'd walked in from.

"Help me with something. Carry those two children you just brought in and bring them over to station B." Lina and Genma looked at each other and proceeded to walk towards the door they'd noticed that was on a wall. Opening it, they saw Kakashi and Raidou, henge'd of course, and 5 other children, all bound and gagged. They all started struggling and screaming through their bindings when they saw the two shinobi. Immediately after closing the door again, Lina and Genma let down their henges and began hushing the children.

"Hey, it's ok, we're the good guys. We're going to get you out of there, ok? Wait here, and don't do anything, we'll come back to get you, I promise. Ryo, Hatori, he wants to see you." Lina tried to calm down the kids and motioned towards her two teammates. Immediately they stood up and walked towards her. Seeing this, the other children quieted down. Thinking it would be suspicious, Lina nudged Genma. Understanding her immediately, he purposely yelled, "And shut up!" before opening the door. By then, Lina and Genma had henge'd back into the guards.

"Here." Genma shoved Kakashi and Raidou towards Kabuto, the two making a show of crying out.

"You two are acting awfully complacent today." Kabuto spoke smoothly without turning his head.

"Mmm." A million questions were running through Lina's head as she murmured. What was Kabuto doing in this abandoned house? Was this house the lab Orochimaru used previously? If it was, and he was dead, what was Kabuto doing in it again? She'd noticed that in the room she and Genma had gone in to get Kakashi and Raidou, there was another door, so did that mean that there were more children, more rooms like this? But all these questions couldn't be answered just yet.

"You two, stand here." Kabuto's voice reeled Lina back to reality as he made Kakashi and Raidou stand beside a table. On the table there was a chart written apparently by him, marking the children's ages, weight, height, and other information, with 2 spaces left for Kakashi and Raidou. As Kabuto measured and jotted down the boys' information, Lina and Genma took the opportunity to have a look around, discreetly. There were so many different things they had no idea what to start with. Suddenly, Lina got an idea. Walking casually towards the entrance they'd come in from, Lina signed at Genma to stay put.

"Where are you going?" Kabuto asked. Lina stopped and turned around and said "Washroom." before leaving.

Once she was safely out of the room, she took out 2 empty weapon scrolls and began hastily filling out as many summoning seals as she could. If it was possible, Lina wanted to collect as much information about Kabuto's experiments as possible. In all likelihood, this meeting with him would come to a fight, which meant lots of destroyed evidence in the scuffle, but if luck was on her side, she'd be able to salvage something useful. After about 15 minutes Lina had finished approximately 10 seals. Considering there were far more than just 10 substances and objects of interest in the room, Lina was deeply disappointed in her lack of ability to write fast. But there was no time. Any longer, and her 'I was taking a dump' scenario would be put into jeopardy. But then again...Lina's mind struck gold again. Quickly making the hand seals, Lina made a Water clone and silently handed her the 1 half-finished scroll and 2 more empty ones. "Cram as much as you can in, I'll send Genma out to collect them." The clone nodded, and walked off to hide. Lina turned towards the entrance and walked back into the room.

"That took a while. What were you doing, giving birth?" Kabuto remarked and Lina flinched.

"I uhh...was taking a dump. Drank some bad milk for breakfast, I guess." Lina shot Genma a look that told him she'd thought of something, and he discreetly shot a look back in understanding.

"Whatever. I'm almost done. Bring me the green thing over there." Lina looked over in the direction Kabuto pointed and picked up the beaker. It seemed to be steaming without being heated, and it gave off a foul odor. She walked towards Kabuto as he swabbed both Kakashi and Raidou's cheeks for cells. Separating the green fluid into 2 separate test tubes, Kabuto swished the cheek swabs into the fluid. When nothing happened, he frowned, and looked at the chart results.

"What's wrong?" Genma asked.

"This should be turning purple. There are no anomalies, everything looks normal, why isn't it working?" Kabuto was getting frustrated, and Team Lina knew why. It wasn't working because the cheek swabs were of grown men. Knowing the cover was going to be blown soon, Lina shot Genma a look and pointedly looked towards the entrance of the room. Genma casually walked towards the door and- "Where are _you_ going?!" He stopped short as Kabuto very nearly yelled at him. Not turning around, Genma responded. "I thought I heard something. I'm going to go check it out."

Kabuto scrutinized his turned back for a moment before waving him off. "Yeah, yeah. Go check it out. You goons are worthless except as muscle." Genma tensely nodded and walked out of the room. After a moment Lina regained the memories of her clone and she knew that Genma had received the scrolls. But he didn't come back for a while, pretending to actually be out looking for any disturbances. When he came back, he waited for Kabuto's back to be turned before he slipped the scrolls to Lina, who stowed them away into her sleeves. She gave Kakashi and Raidou a look that said 'get ready'.

"Why isn't this WORKING?!" Kabuto muttered furiously under his breath, ready to thrown in the towel. Everything he did, no matter how many swabs he used, all came up negative despite every sign that showed that they should be positive. It was infuriating, especially for someone who had done this experiment dozens of times in other hideouts.

Suddenly a burst of chakra signature came from outside the door. Lina glanced at Genma, panicked. They were both thinking the same thing. 'Those two are awake.'

"Akuma, Gorou. If you two are here, then why do I sense your chakra signatures outside of this room?" Kabuto said without turning around from his station. Lina and Genma froze. In the next second the two guards who had previously been knocked out ran into the room.

"We're here-what the hell's going on?!" The two guards stood before them.

"Ahh, Akuma, Gorou, you're here. Take care of them." Kabuto turned around and began to watch as Lina and Genma reverted back to their original forms. Seeing Lina's original size, the two guards smirked. "What do we have here, a kid and her handler?" Akuma, the uglier of the two drawled as Gorou chortled. Lina's eyes flashed. Shooting a look at Kakashi and Raidou to stay put for now, she said to Genma, "Formation A." "Got it." He got in front of her slightly off centre and readied himself.

Akuma and Gorou walked towards Lina and Genma, their grins never leaving their faces. Standing in a straight line in front of the two, Akuma and Gorou widened their stances. Abruptly, Gorou inhaled, drawing back before he spit out globs of black towards Genma and Lina. Dodging, Lina noticed that whatever the globs touched melted. "Don't let that stuff touch you! It melts everything it touches!" As Genma and Lina defended and dodged against Gorou's attacks, Akuma let out strings of chakra from his fingertips, trying to gain a hold of either shinobi. Meanwhile, Kakashi and Raidou remained in their roles of scared children, while watching and taking note of the fighting styles. Kakashi could see several substances were going to get in the path of the fight, so he tried to remember as much as he could about what the substances looked like, in case there was any way they could salvage some and recreate the original. Raidou kept an eye on Kabuto, who at the moment seemed keenly interested in the fight. While his posture seemed relaxed, Raidou could see the glint of excitement in Kabuto's eyes, and he knew it was only a matter of time before he entered the fight. Therefore, Kakashi and he had better be ready to enter it too, when the time came.

Retreating to the other side of the room, Genma's hands flew through the seals and made an 'o' shape to his mouth. "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)" Lina's hands made the seals herself and sent a gust of wind to the fire to ignite it further and raise it's power. The fireball blazed through the room and flew out the entrance, Akuma and Gorou dodging it and shooting chakra strings and globs of black towards them. Lina pulled out a weapons scroll from her sleeve and another from her back pocket and bit down on both thumbs. Unfurling the scrolls, she rose from the ground, one foot pointing directly down with the other extended behind her perpendicular from her body, her back straight and proud. Swiping both thumbs across each scroll, Lina dipped her upper body down and pointed her scrolls towards each enemy. "Dual scroll strike!" Genma formed his own hand seals at the same time and planted his hands to the ground. "Doton: Tsuchi Kairo! (Earth Release: Earth Corridor)" He encased Akuma and Gorou in earth, leaving an opening only from the top so that Lina's attacks would land.

Akuma used one hand to attach chakra strings to the ceiling and the other to grab Gorou. Swinging the two out of the earth casing Genma had created, he swung Gorou and himself out of the jutsu, but was unable to land safely when several of Lina's summoned kunai cut through the chakra string. Rolling to the ground, Akuma formed a series of seals and pointed his hands to Genma. "Raiton: Gian! (Lightning Release: False Darkness)"

Lina, now back on the ground, raced through the hand seals, Tiger, Ox, Dog, Rabbit, Snake, and let loose a gust of wind. "Futon: Daitoppa! (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)". The gust of wind blown from Lina's mouth, while not strong enough to knock anyone over due to her inexperience with Wind natured chakra jutsus, was still able to slow down and diminish the power of Akuma's lightning attack, giving Genma a chance to do this: "Retsudo Tenshin! (Violent Heavenly Earth Needle)" Using the structure he'd built surrounding Akuma and Gorou before they'd jumped out, he redirected the hardened earth, shaping it into two giant needles and sending them towards the two foes. The needles crashed into where the two were a split second after they jumped to dodge it. While mid air, Akuma formed his own hand seals. "Raiton: Jibashi! (Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder)", sending a shock of electricity towards both Lina and Genma. They both dodged and had to do so once more when Gorou shot out more globs of acidic something-or-other. But Lina was slowing down, and was grazed slightly by the last glob.

"Ahh!" She screamed as her skin on her shoulder burned. It was only a graze, but it hurt like hell.

Both parties paused for a moment, each team getting tired from the fight. As Lina looked around in her peripheral vision, she noticed that some tables had already been overturned in the fight, and substances were on the floor. From her other eye, she could see Kabuto stirring. "Maa. This is what I get for getting you two to fight, instead of one of the later experiments." Kabuto mock-sighed and paced slowly towards the 4. When he stopped, he stood standing between Akuma and Gorou, and Lina and Genma. Taking a kunai out, he gripped it and licked the edge smoothly, like a snake. _'Just like Orochimaru.'_ Kakashi thought. He saw Lina give him a look, and he nodded, thankful that Kabuto wasn't looking at him. He glanced at Raidou, and when he wouldn't respond, Kakashi nudged him in the ribs before signalling him to get ready to fight.

"So, Konoha shinobi, eh? How'd you figure out that I was here? Or was it just dumb luck?"

"We have our ways." Lina spoke with hidden confidence. Her mind whirred through all the possibilities, but none of them were good. Suddenly, Kabuto rushed her, moving so quickly she barely had time to move. She dodged Kabuto's chakra-enhanced hands, seeing Akuma and Gorou initiate a fight with Genma. It was time.

"Now!"

Kakashi and Raidou immediately changed back, Raidou joining Genma's battle as Kakashi launched kunai as Lina's backup. Akuma and Gorou were caught by surprise, and the best friends used that moment of non-movement to their advantage. Launching into a practiced attack like a well-oiled machine, Genma let loose a jet of water from his mouth "Suiton: Haran Bansho! (Water Release: Stormy Blockade)" while Raidou got up close to Akuma and Gorou, who were now nearly cornered, and used his poison-laced Kokuto to ram each of them while they tried to fight off the water.

Meanwhile, Kakashi and Lina were fighting their own battle with Kabuto. With Lina running low on chakra and being hurt from that acid attack previously, Kakashi took the leading role in the fight, combining his lightning fast speed with the deadly accuracy of a Sharingan user.

"Hatake Kakashi, we meet again. How's Naruto-kun? I'm surprised he's not with you, seeing as he's so obsessed with finding Sasuke-kun." Kabuto confessed as he weaved and dodged against both Lina and Kakashi's attacks. With both users using taijutsu, Kabuto eventually turned to his snake techniques, unleashing a hoard of white serpents from both hands.

"He's on a mission." Kakashi retaliated just as smoothly. He bounded backwards, trying to put distance between him and the snakes before using an exploding tag on them. He saw Lina do the same before looking at him. They shared a brief smile, and she gave him the signal. "Formation B". _'Formation B? But that requires Genma and Raidou…' _

"Hey." Kakashi turned to see Genma and Raidou behind him. Behind them lay the two they had been fighting, defeated. Genma looked at him, his gaze much less playful. Other than a few cuts and bruises, there weren't any lasting injuries on either of them.

"Hey yourself. Formation B."

"Got it." "Let's go." Raidou and Genma said together. Raidou ran towards Lina, intercepting and deflecting several kunai sent her way from Kabuto. Kabuto turned his head back and forth, analyzing the four he was up against. He knew Kakashi well, and knew _of_ Genma from the Chuunin Exams 3-4 years ago, but he didn't know Raidou or Lina. Seeing as Raidou had helped put up such a fight against Akuma and Gorou, and Lina had been able to hold her own despite the massive loss of chakra after fighting Akuma and Gorou, and then himself, Kabuto could see he was going to have to make a quick exit if he wanted to leave in one piece.

Looking back at his subordinates, he snorted. "I'd love to stay and chat, but it looks like it's about time for me to make my exit." In a flash Kabuto ran towards the entrance.

"Stop!" Lina tried to run after him, but stopped when she saw him form hand seals for an Earth Jutsu. Kabuto planted his hands on the ground. "Doton: Iwayado Kuzushi! (Earth Release: Rock Lodging Destruction)" Since he wasn't as capable in Earth jutsus as he was in others, the ceiling only began to rumble slightly and dust fell, but this disturbance caused the team to look up, giving him an escape.

"Shit! Get the kids out of here!" Lina yelled at her team to go as she formed 2 water clones. She handed them 2 scrolls and kept one for herself. The three Lina's began collecting as much equipment and substances as they could, filling the weapon scrolls slowly. They were unable to get very far before small chunks of ceiling began falling.

"What are you DOING? We have to go!" Genma yelled at her, grabbing her hand, but she shook him off.

"No! We came all this way, I'm not letting the information die. You go! Take the kids, Kakashi-san, Raidou-san, make sure they make it out ok. I'm right behind you!"

"Lina-san, you're a reckless son of a bitch, you know that?" Lina gave him a wry grin and said, "I know. Now go!"

She turned back towards the room, and spotted a pile of papers with handwriting on them. Looking at her scroll, she saw that she only had 1 spot left that could be filled. With any luck, the papers were notes that Kabuto had made and they'd be able to figure something out from them. Hastily scribbling the information required to fulfill the summoning seal, Lina completed her scroll and looked over at her clones. Luckily, she'd made them so that they would not destruct unless they were mortally wounded, and neither of them were, with only a few cuts here and there. They looked back at her, and gave her thumbs up. They tossed the scrolls to her and reduced to water, just as chunks of rock came crashing down where they had stood. Lina caught the scrolls and raced out the entrance moments before she heard the entire room collapse on itself. Not stopping to look back, Lina took the stairs two at a time and ran out of the house, which promptly fell with an almighty crash.

"Lina-san, you're ok!" She looked towards the voice and saw Raidou, Kakashi, Genma, and the 5 newly-rescued children. She smiled and walked over to them

"Hey, I'm glad you guys are ok."

"That was really stupid, you know." Genma said. Lina ran her fingers through her hair and sheepishly chuckled. "Ahhh, well. All's well that ends well, right?" Kakashi walked up to her and fixed her with a stare. "You should've been more careful." Lina looked up at him and smiled softly. "Yeah, well I wasn't about to let my first major mission be a bust. Ahh! But we lost Kabuto! Argghhhh!" Lina tried to sniff him out, but the house's collapse seemed to have covered his scent. Suddenly downtrodden, Lina sighed loudly.

"Let it go. We successfully completed our mission, which was to find out information about Kabuto and/or the Akatsuki. There was no information about Akatsuki, but you got a lot of stuff in those scrolls, right?"

"You're right, Genma-san, but I still feel like we failed somehow…" Lina puffed her cheeks up. "Mmmm..no! I won't give up! Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Lina planted her hand on the ground and summoned Daisuke.

"Daisuke, at your service."

"Dai-chan, can you track….aaahhh never mind you don't have his scent...damn it!" Lina belatedly realized her mistake. Daisuke raised his head and sniffed around.

"I can smell someone going away from the house in a hurry not too long ago, could that be the person?" The team looked at each other. It could be, or it could be some random men who had been working for Kabuto who had noticed the noise and was leaving in a hurry. Even Kakashi couldn't tell.

"Kakashi-san, you've met Kabuto before. Do your ninken know his smell?" Kakashi pondered the question before nodding. He formed the signs and summoned his team of Eight ninken.

"Yo." Pakkun sat on top of Bull, with the rest of the group sitting in a half-circle around them. "What's up, Boss?"

"Pakkun, can you locate Kabuto's scent?"

"One sec. Yup, I can smell him running south."

Kakashi looked at Lina. "What now?"

Lina looked at the children, who were still frightened from the narrow escape, and then back at the ninken. "Pakkun, track him until he stops. When he does, tell Daisuke where he is, and he'll tell us. We won't follow him, but we will at least know where he stopped, and we can give the information over to Tsunade-sama, who can send in another team if she wants. We've finished our mission, so let's bring these kids back to their families and go home." Pakkun looked over at his summoner, who nodded. The little dog nodded back, bowed at Daisuke's feet, and bounded off. The rest of the ninken scrambled over to Daisuke and greeted him before they each poofed away. That is, except Guruko.

"Lina-chan!" After greeting Daisuke like the other ninken, Guruko ran over to Lina and sniffed her, to make sure she was who she said she was. As she knelt down, Guruko whined when he smelled the burn on Lina's shoulder.

"What, this? It's nothing, just a scratch. How are you? I haven't seen you in so long." Lina smiled as Guruko's facial expressions lost some of its tension.

"I'm good, I'm glad you're alright!"

"Alright, that's enough. Taichou, we should get going." Kakashi said, the amusement in his voice not concealed in the slightest. Lina looked up and nodded. "Well, I guess this is goodbye for now. Come visit again soon, alright?" Guruko nodded and 'poofed' away.

Lina turned back to the team and said, "Well, I guess it's time we headed out. But first, are any of you guys hurt?" The kids shook their heads, having relaxed after seeing the dogs. "Good, let's get going then." The kids visibly shrank back as Lina tried to corral them into a group. She stopped and smiled, looking at them. Being her original height, there wasn't much of a difference between her and them, so she didn't have to bend do quite as much as any of the other shinobi might.

"Hey, it's alright. I know you guys are scared, but we're the good guys, remember? Those men who took you will never be able to do that again, and we're just going to bring you back to your families." The children said nothing for a moment, and then one girl walked out in front of the rest. "That dog, and the other ones….how can they talk?" Lina looked at where the girl was looking and saw Daisuke.

"Oh, him? That's Daisuke, he's my ninken. I have a blood contract with him, and we can summon each other when we need to. He's...like my partner. We're a team, and we always look out for each other. Those other dogs are Kakashi-san's partners. See, that's Kakashi-san." Kakashi raised a hand in a 'hello' and Daisuke padded over and nodded. "That's right." The kids gasped and widened their eyes after hearing him speak once more. Lina looked back at the girl who'd asked the question.

"What's your name?"

"Nozomi."

Lina looked up at her team and then back down at Nozomi. "Well, Nozomi-chan, my name is Lina. Your parents told us where we could find you. They were really worried about you, you know."

"Then why did they give me away?" "Yeah, all our parents gave us away." "If they really loved us, they wouldn't do that!" The other children chimed in.

"You shouldn't blame them for this, because none of it was their fault. The men who took you did it without giving your parents a choice. They love you so much, I'm sure of it. Once we go back, you'll be able to see it, when you see your parents again. But for now, trust me. There is no way that your parents would ever give you up unless they absolutely had no other choice." Lina believed that with all her heart. Parents protected their children. Sure, these particular ones had made a terrible choice to not run, but they were all civilians facing trained shinobi. The fear the men must have instilled in the town was unimaginable.

No one spoke for a moment as the children thought about what Lina had said. Then..."C-can we p-pet him?" One of the smaller children shyly asked. Lina slowly shook her head. "Daisuke's not a pet. Just like you would not pet a person, you can't pet a ninken." As the children got used to the idea of ninken, another boy asked, "So, you're all shinobi?" Lina nodded her head. "Cool! We've never seen shinobi before! Our town doesn't really have them, considering we're so small." As the children chattered on, the group slowly walked towards the town.

Part-way there, Genma and Kakashi felt a chakra disturbance in the forest several metres away from them, but it was gone before they could make out anything. Both of them recognized the chakra signature as the person who'd been following them.

XXX

"Transmission 7: The target successfully located Yakushi Kabuto, yet he managed to escape. Target is now tailing Kabuto via ninken. Awaiting orders."

"Split up. Follow both."

XXX

"We're here!" The children exclaimed as the team entered the town. The trip had taken approximately an hour, considering the shinobi weren't chasing other shinobi using chakra-enhanced feet. Despite the children's fatigue, they'd all been anxious to return home, so they had pressed on despite their hunger. When they reached the town, it seemed the children were expecting a large gathering of their parents who would welcome them into their open arms. But since no one had been informed of the mission, and the only ones who might have known had their memories removed, the entrance was a bit of a let-down.

"Where is everybody?" The children looked around the town square, not seeing any familiar faces.

"What do you mean? Your family doesn't know that you're back yet, so we're going to bring you home. Right, guys?" Lina looked back at her team. They all nodded. Turning back, Lina winced as she accidentally turned on a wrong angle and caused her shoulder injury to flare up again. She'd covered it up with a bandage to inhibit the risk of infection, but the pain was ever-present, especially when she twisted from side to side.

"Come on, Nozomi-chan, since your parents are in this town, we'll get you settled first. Kakashi-san, could you go see if there's a boat leaving today? Book 2 rooms so we can all cram in." Kakashi nodded and headed off in one direction as the rest of the group went in the opposite, towards the inn where Nozomi's parents were staying. When they got there, Lina knocked on the door and motioned Nozomi to come closer.

"Yes?" The wife opened the door, looking at Lina blankly.

"Mama!" Nozomi leapt into her mother's arms and the two shared a touching reunion, which only increased when the father joined the group. Lina looked over at Raidou, and motioned him to step forward. Raidou came closer and formed the hand seals for the Memory Seal jutsu once more, eliminating the memories of Lina and the rest of the team, as well as the horrible nightmare that Kabuto and his gang of men had created. When the family woke up from their sleep, they would think they were on vacation.

The group then decided that while they were here, they may as well clean house a little. Knocking on several doors, Genma and Raidou quickly knocked out and bound several of the men who had kidnapped the children. They weren't able to find all of them, but the men they DID find didn't put up much of a fight, considering they were just low-level thugs working for a high-level shinobi and his failure-experiments. Lina, being injured, stayed with the children, ensuring they didn't come to any harm or have to watch the fights. Leaving the men to stay in their rooms tied up for a few days, until someone came and found them, the group left the inn and made their way to the docks.

Upon arrival, Lina saw Kakashi speaking to none other than Uotani Hatsuharu, the captain of the ferry they'd boarded just short of 3 weeks ago. It was hard to believe that it had only been 3 weeks since the team had began their mission. So much had happened, Lina had learned so much from her team. As she reflected, Lina saw Kakashi wave them over, so she directed the group towards him

"Hey. I told him about our little situation, and he's agreed to help us bring the children back to their families."

"I KNEW there was something different about you guys! Wow, I never expected you to be shinobi though! But no worries, I'll make sure these kids make it home safely." Captain Haru grinned broadly and shook each teammate's hand.

"Thank you so much, Captain. We'll accompany the children while on the ferry, but your help is greatly appreciated, especially since you know the town so well."

"Of course, of course." Just then, Daisuke, who had been accompanying them, let out a low whine, and everyone looked at him. Lina walked away with him and Kakashi and then knelt down, pretending to pet him as if he were a pet.

"What's up?"

"Pakkun's tracked Kabuto down, but he doesn't know where he is." Lina thought for a moment. They didn't have enough time to go and search for him now, but they couldn't just leave the only lead they had. Looking down at Daisuke, she knew that he had better tracking abilities than Pakkun, and he would know how to describe and show where the location was on a map.

"Go find Pakkun. Don't let anyone notice you, no matter what. Find out where Kabuto is, and then both of you go home. I'll summon you again later tonight." Lina looked at Kakashi for agreement in allowing her ninken to tell his own to go home. He nodded. Daisuke nodded and trotted off. Lina wasn't worried that he would get hurt, considering he was the boss of all ninken.

Heading back to the group, Lina shook her head and smiled at her team's odd looks. They got onto the ship, the captain letting the children in for free, and waited for evening to arrive. The children played on the deck, Team Lina watching them. There happened to be a civilian doctor on board the ship, and he offered to look at Lina's injury, which she gladly accepted. Although it wasn't fully healed, the doctor did give Lina some pain killers and cleaned the wound before bandaging it up again. The rest of the journey was relatively relaxed, since there was no more need to hide.

When the group arrived at the other side, they briefly consulted with Captain Haru as to the locations of the children's homes.

"So here, here, here, and here." Lina concluded, prodding at her unrolled map. Three out of four of the homes were relatively easy to access, but one of the children lived in mountainous region right on the edge of town.

"That's right. And you'd probably be better off heading to them now, it looks like then sun's about to set, and the mountain region gets pretty dangerous in the dark, since you can't really see where you're going."

"Thank you again for your help, Captain Haru." The team shook the captain's hand and were off, the children yelling out their goodbyes as they left too.

XXX

After Daisuke and Pakkun had reunited, and Daisuke had been able to discern the location, they relaxed for a moment before returning home.

"So, Daisuke-sama. How's it going with our summoners? Any developments?" Pakkun lazily asked, now that he'd been given permission to be at ease.

"Nothing I can see so far, but that's none of our concern, remember?" Daisuke chided softly. Pakkun could see that he didn't really mean it, and that he wanted just as badly as anyone else for his summoner to find happiness. And both ninken kind of hoped their summoners would find happiness with each other. I mean, what better way to unite the family, right?

"Well, I sure didn't expect Lina-chan to be the captain of the team. It's a good thing everyone was alright. Well, except for her arm, I mean."

"Oh, don't worry about that. She may not look it, but she's a fighter, that girl is. And that injury's nothing. Did I ever tell you that she once dislocated her thighbone from her hip, and instead of going to a doctor like I told her, she popped it back in? She made me get her a stick so she wouldn't bite her tongue, and I don't think I'll ever forget that scream." Daisuke reminisced, not noticing Pakkun shudder.

"Err….well I guess we'd better get home, then." Pakkun bowed before 'poofing' away. Seconds later, Daisuke did the same.

XXX

By the time the team had finished handing the three easy children off to their respective parents and sealed all their memories of the horrible nightmare of kidnappings, the sun had already set and the moon was journeying towards the high point in the sky. The last of the children was a 12 year old boy named Nowaki. Since he'd had an exciting day, he'd long since tuckered himself out, and was now being piggy-backed by Kakashi, his head laying on the shinobi's back. As Lina looked at the pair, she couldn't help but smile, thinking that Kakashi would make a great dad some day.

"What?" Kakashi could feel Lina's gaze on him. He turned to her just as she shook her head. "Nothing." She winced slightly and placed her hand on her injured shoulder.

"You ok?" Genma asked, coming up beside her. Lina nodded. "Much better now that that civilian doctor's patched me up a bit. But I can't wait till we get to Konoha so I can get this checked out." Genma nodded.

After dropping off Nowaki to his very grateful grandmother, and repeatedly declining her kind offer to set them up for the night, the team tiredly journeyed back down the mountain to set up camp.

"Remind me again why we didn't accept that grandmother's offer to let us stay with them for the night?" Genma groaned for the umpteenth time.

"Because we're being followed, remember? We don't know by who, if it's from Konoha or not, and what they want. Do YOU want to be the one who puts that family in danger, after all they've been through?" Lina retorted for the umpteenth time. She was tired too! Genma, rather than respond, simply reduced to muttering under his breath incoherently, which Lina ignored. Once off the mountain, the team quickly found a clearing to set up camp. Lina summoned Daisuke once more.

"Daisuke, at your service."

"Dai-chan, did you find it?"

"Yeah, get me a map." Lina took one out and laid it flat, putting stones on each corner to weigh them down. "It was around here, give or take a few squares." The map was divided into small squares that represented kilometres, and are Daisuke had his paw on was a residential area. Apparently Kabuto had fled out of Bofu Island, and teleported to a smaller island that housed only a small village.

"Seriously, here? It's only a tiny town! I've been here before, they don't even have a name. The place is basically a haven for people who want peace...oh." Suddenly Lina understood. This place was going to be the new Bofu Island for Kabuto. But how on earth was he going to get the equipment and everything, when it had all been destroyed? There were too many questions, and too few answers.

"We need to tell the Hokage." Kakashi's voice brought Lina back to reality, and she nodded.

"Kakashi-san, can you get Pakkun to do it? I want Daisuke here." Kakashi nodded and summoned Pakkun. "Hey, boss, need me again? Yo, Lina-chan. Hello, Daisuke-sama."

"Pakkun, I need you to tell the Hokage…" Kakashi explained what had to be said, or at least Lina hoped he did, because at that very moment she let out a giant yawn. "Aaaaahhhh~" The group turned to her and laughed. Stopping mid-stretch, Lina dropped her arms and blushed slightly. "Sorry. Tired." They finished setting up their sleeping areas, and Lina, despite her fatigue took first watch with Daisuke. She settle down with him underneath her head, supporting her as a pillow.

"Remember when we used to do this just months ago?" Lina murmured. Daisuke dog-purred and shifted slightly. "Yeah, it was nice." Lina nodded and turned over, burying her face into Daisuke's fur.

Unbeknownst to her, but definitely known to Daisuke, Kakashi was watching them from his vantage point just yards away from them. He smiled as he watched the two, kunoichi and ninken, lay, completely relaxed, looking at the stars. He reflected on the day's events. Lina, while still new at taking charge, had been able to complete the mission AND gain valuable information from the enemy, to the point that she'd had the foresight to make summoning scrolls to store evidence. Despite her recklessness in staying behind, even he had to admit that she'd done a good job. The team had come out basically scot-free, with only a few minor cuts here and there, and she had had the greatest injury. And now, as Kakashi watched Lina lay with her ninken, he couldn't help but think that there was so much more about her that he didn't know. And for some reason, he wanted to know everything about her.

XXX

As Daisuke sensed Kakashi watching his summoner, he smiled briefly. _'Maybe this mission showed that boy that my summoner is not just a girl after all...'_

XXX

"Transmission 10: Location for Yakushi Kabuto has been found. Targets are on their way home. Please advise."

"Initiate The Plan tomorrow, and report."

XXX

The next morning, Team Lina set out to go back home, taking a decidedly faster pace than when they'd come. While Pakkun had been told to tell the Hokage a brief synopsis of what had happened, the team was eager to report their findings so that the intelligence agents could build on the information they already had about Kabuto. That, and Lina wanted to know what the hell was going on, with the tail, the secret mission, all of it. By the early afternoon, the team had slowly started to slack off on their vigilance for outsiders, so when Lina decided she needed a break and took a little walk, no one thought it odd when she didn't come back for a little while.

Lina was walking beside a stream they'd found partway on their trip and had been following. As she gazed into the clear water and then up at the bright blue sky, she felt so at peace it seemed like nothing could ruin her mood. Sure, her shoulder still hurt like hell, but her stomach cramps had been a false alarm. Those happened on occasion, although not enough for her to give up her idea that they were premonitions. A warm breeze blew through the trees surrounding the stream and Lina closed her eyes, just being one with nature. And then, a whizz sounded near her left ear. Coming closer, closer. Lina stepped back just in time as a kunai flew past her. Turning to see who the assailant was, Lina could only see 2 black eyes behind a faceless mask. Lina took a moment to look at the person up and down. The chakra sense. It was the same one as the one that had appeared briefly on their journey to Bofu Island a few times. This was the shinobi who had been tailing them. Lina took in the appearance. The mask was almost like an incomplete ANBU one, as it had no special markings to distinguish it. The person was wearing a light yellow cloak over - But before she could get much further, another volley of kunai flashed towards her.

"Who the hell are you?!" Lina yelled as she threw some of her own. The masked person didn't respond. Using a body flicker, he ('cuz she could tell it was a 'he') suddenly appeared in front of her and began punching her, kicking at her, trying to gain an inch of access. Lina was not good in taijutsu, considering her main techniques were based on mid- to long-range attacks, so it was all she could do to block and defend. After several minutes of trying to retaliate, the masked person caught Lina's arm, pulled it towards him, and dislocated it from her shoulder with a sickening crack. With a yell, Lina dropped to the ground, her other arm clenching her shoulder in pain as tears formed. She didn't notice when the masked figure slipped an earpiece inside the hem of her clothing before he disappeared. Moments later, Genma, Raidou, and Kakashi came rushing out to see what was all the commotion.

"What the fuck happened?" Genma shouted from a ways away. Lina moaned and shook her head, her arm's dislocation too painful for her to say anything. Raidou and Kakashi rushed over to her, Genma hot on their trail.

"Lina-san, are you alright?" Raidou asked, his eyes wide with worry. Lina looked up at him, and gave a small strained smile.

"Yeah, get my bag, could you? Hurry." Unluckily, or luckily, she wasn't sure which, the arm that had been dislocated was not the same as the one that had been grazed by the acid-mud-thing that that shinobi had spit out back in Kabuto's underground lab. Raidou ran towards the camp to fetch Lina's pack as Genma and Kakashi berated her about what had happened and what the person had looked like. Kakashi tried to track the pursuer, but after a few metres came back, seeing as the person had left no trail after leaving the stream. When Raidou got back, he handed Lina her bag and the three men watched their captain rummage one-handedly through until she found what looked to be a stick.

"Oh, no." Kakashi muttered.

"What?" Raidou looked back and forth between Kakashi and Lina. Genma took pity upon him and explained. "She's going to re-set her shoulder." "WHAT?! Lina-san, you can't!"

Lina looked up at him, suddenly amused. "Don't worry, I've done this before. Of course, that time, it was my leg…" Lina trailed off before jamming the stick into her mouth horizontally and biting down. Mentally, she counted. _'One, two, THREE!'_ and adjusted her arm back into it's socket with an awful scream. The stick cracked slightly from the pressure of her teeth, having been used often, before it was spat out. Lina moaned and held her shoulder for a moment as her team stood and sat beside her, gaping.

"Damn." Genma ran his hand through his hair, speechless. Raidou looked sick, and Kakashi...well, Kakashi looked like Kakashi, considering he was 3/4 cloth.

Lina took a second to gather herself before looked up at each of them. "Guys, do you mind if we extend this break a little? I'd kind of like to soak my arm a bit, the cool water will do it good. I promise, we'll be up and out of here soon." The guys looked down at her.

"You know that you're the captain right? That means you don't need our permission to do things." Genma reminded her. Even if the mission was completed, she was still captain until they got into Konoha. Besides, she'd been doing that, asking permission for unnecessary things, since the day the mission had started. As a chuunin, Lina was supposed to have enough leadership to lead a team, but she hadn't shown much of that quality while with the group.

"Yeah I know, but I feel bad for making you guys wait."

"Lina-san, you were just injured in an impromptu fight, not to mention you were previously injured from that fight with those guys and Kabuto. I'd say you deserve a break." Raidou chastised and Kakashi nodded.

"Alright then...erm. Do you guys mind giving me some privacy?" Lina was suddenly shy, since she had to take off her clothes, and she didn't want the guys to see her. Raidou blushed, but the three shinobi didn't think it was a good idea, and told her as much.

"No can do. You seem to be the target here. The person was obviously watching you from the beginning. We don't know if there are more. It's pretty unlikely, but we still have to be cautious, so you're not going anywhere alone. Kakashi, you stay with her. I don't think we need all three of us here, so Raidou and I will go back and wait for you guys." Genma concluded his mini-speech, crossing his arms, waiting for Lina to try and protest, which she obviously did.

"Wha-no! I'm fine! Like you said, it's highly unlikely that the person or anyone else is coming after me after that, so I'll be fine! I don't need a babysitter!"

"Don't argue. I'm staying." Kakashi plopped down, fixing Lina with an intense 'no-arguing' stare that somehow sent shivers down her back. Lina opened her mouth once more to try and talk her way out of it, but the other two shinobi were already leaving. Sighing, Lina looked back at Kakashi.

"Fine, you can stay. Funny how you guys call me captain, and say I don't lead enough, but when I make a decision you all veto it immediately." Lina pouted and Kakashi chuckled.

"Well, this is for your own good, so take it as a compliment. If we hadn't vetoed it, it would be because we didn't care." Lina brightened up at that, and she smiled sweetly, which Kakashi returned with an eye crinkled-smile. They hadn't been able to talk like this for the duration of the mission, since they'd been busy working out details and doing recon. For a moment, neither spoke, just enjoying the company, before Lina's arm gave a rather nasty throb. Remembering why they were here, Lina turned bright red. After all, no one had ever seen her naked, as herself.

"Erm...can you turn around?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow before nodding. Making sure his back was fully facing her, Lina slowly and painfully removed her dress. But then, there was a problem. Her bra. With her arm the way it was, Lina couldn't create hand seals to make a water clone, much less reach behind her back and undo the bra. For a moment she stood there, in nothing but her bra and panties and a hot red blush. What to do? Redressing, Lina turned towards Kakashi and cleared her throat.

"Um...Kakashi-san, I have a bit of a problem." Kakashi visibly stiffened for a moment before asking, "What is it?" His perverted mind was racing through all the scenarios that lay between the covers of Icha Icha.

"Uhh...you read Icha Icha right? I'm sure you can guess my problem. I have an injured arm and I need to undress to get in the water." Lina's face was seriously hot enough to cook eggs, and she had begun biting her lip, a nervous tick she'd had as a child but outgrown as an adult. Or so she'd thought.

"Oh. Um...ok." He'd forgotten that Lina read Icha Icha. Kakashi had no idea how to handle this. One side of him was thrilled, this was the stuff of wet dreams! But the other side was as nervous as a hormonal teenager, not wanting to take things as signs when they weren't.

"BUT! But...you can't look. S-so could you c-cover your um...eyes…?" _'Oh God, I'm stuttering?! Who am I, Hinata?!' _Lina groaned in her head, wanting to smack herself silly. She saw Kakashi nod his agreement and then reach up to his forehead to cover both eyes. When he was done, he turned around, his arms reaching out to try and find her. For a moment Lina wanted to laugh at the absurd situation. She stepped towards him and touched both his hands with her own. In that very second, it seemed like a spark had flown between them, and the two stilled. Lina looked at Kakashi's fully masked face, trying to gage his thoughts from less than what she'd had before. Kakashi was trying to do the same with the feel of her hands. Hers felt soft, tiny, like a woman's, while his felt large, strong yet slender, deadly yet gentle. A dozen birds flew into the sky suddenly and the moment was gone. Lina quickly let go of Kakashi's hands, both feeling somewhat disappointed.

"You just stand like that, with your hands out, and I'll back into them, ok?"

"Got it." Kakashi heard Lina's dress fall and then felt her back press on his hands. That second moment of contact elicited a soft gasp from her, so soft that he nearly missed it. But he certainly didn't miss the quickening of her heart (or maybe it was his own?) in the next second. "You ok?" Kakashi asked, hesitantly. Maybe his hands were cold?

"Yeah." Lina said breathily, allowing herself to feeling his touch on her back, even if it was only like this. A shiver ran down her back as Kakashi felt his way down her back and rested on her bra band.

"You sure you're ok?" Kakashi's voice somehow seemed closer to her ear this time, and Lina could feel his body almost touching her back. Lina nodded, but then realized that he couldn't see, so she simply said, "Yes, I'm fine."

Kakashi's lower half twitched as he felt Lina's body shiver under his fingers as he searched for the band. He hadn't meant to make her this way, but now that he had, he certainly wasn't going to let it go to waste. Letting his hands pause on her bra band, Kakashi lowered his face down to where he thought her neck should be and breathed softly. Even with the fabric of his mask, Kakashi knew his breath would transcend it and move onto Lina's skin, and in the mean time he could take in her scent. No perfumes, no fancy soaps, just pure Lina.

Lina nearly dropped to the floor when she felt Kakashi's breath on her neck, her face now so red there really was no way of describing it other than to call it the deepest, darkest tomato you've ever seen, and then multiplied by a gazillion. She allowed the moment to pass right through her, feeling his body against hers, his breath on her neck through the fabric of his mask, hearing his heart beat (or was it hers?) beating so loudly in his (or her?) chest. And then it was over. Both parties felt it, and Kakashi slowly undid the bra band.

"There you go."

"Um, thanks."

"No problem." Lina quickly dropped her panties too and slipped into the water, being careful to stay out of Kakashi's line of sight in case he lifted his hitai ate. Neither spoke for the rest of the 10 minutes as each tried to hide their blushes and calm their nerves (and other places). Before long, it was time to go and Lina decided she didn't need a bra to travel. Grabbing her bindings from her back, Lina hesitantly walked to Kakashi.

"Kakashi-san?" He turned towards her slightly, his eyes still covered.

"Yes?"

"Could you hold this, tight?" Lina gave Kakashi one end of the binding and walked away until it was taut. Then, walking in circles, she reeled herself in until she had bound herself tightly. When she reached Kakashi's hand, she took the end and deftly pinned it in place. "Thanks." "No problem." The rest of it was simple enough, and Lina was soon standing, fully clothed, in front of Kakashi.

"Alright, you can lift your hitai ate now. Thanks again for...well for that." Lina fumbled slightly through the sentence. Kakashi shifted his hitai ate up diagonally so that it was only uncovering his normal eye and smiled.

"Of course, _Taichou_." Their brief moment of intimacy had passed and they were back to being comrades. There was no tension between the two as they walked back to meet Genma and Raidou.

"Oh, you're back. You ok now?" Genma asked lazily. Lina grinned and nodded. "All good. Now, let's go home!" The team grinned at each other and set off.

**Author's note**: woooooow, ok this chapter got really out of hand! I know, I was supposed to post this like a week ago, or so, but I was editing it, and I started rewriting parts, and then others had to be explained, and then eventually I just couldn't figure out how to stop. So yeah, longest chapter ever, but I personally really liked it :D 15 000 characters! WOO!

Some things to note:

Number 1: Heitai in Japanese apparently means subordinate. As in Taichou = captain, Heitai = subordinate.

Number 2: the 'body flicker' I said that masked person used, I didn't mean the same thing that Minato does, that whole Yellow Flash thing. I meant that thing that all Jounin seem to be able to do where they suddenly disappear after a series of lines appear (this is in the anime). I hope you get what I mean. I suppose a better word is teleporting, but I didn't want to use that, cuz teleporting reminds me of moving to a different place altogether, not just small spaces, you know?

Next chapter is going to be more of Raidou-Lina and Kakashi-Lina, with a bit of Kurenai, Naruto, and Shikamaru. As always, please read, review, comment, say something! Many thanks! :D Oh, and sorry once more about the delay in uploading, I hope I didn't lose TOO many readers


	14. Chapter 14

**Something I wanted to mention, just cuz it's somewhat relevant to the story: right after the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime, the Pain arc starts. Now, I personally want to develop more of the Lina/Kakashi/rest of the gang's relationships, so I'm stretching the time frame just a bit. Pain invasion won't come for a few chapters.**

As always, please review, comment, write something! I'm dying to know what you guys think. Ja ne! ;)

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. I do, however, own any original ideas or characters (such as Sasaki Lina) that I have created.

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Sasaki Lina is 29. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: **the Pain arc is still going to happen, I'm making Sasuke come back too, but Shinobi Alliance arc is still going to happen, as well as anything that didn't directly involve him in the anime/manga.** I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?) Enjoy!

_**A special shout-out to all my readers, people who favourited/followed both the story and myself, thank you all very, very much. I appreciate it so much, it's so satisfying as a writer to know that your work is being recognized, so thank you. To all the reviews and comments, people who PM'd me, thank you for your kind words. You guys are incredible, and what drives me to write more and faster, so thank you.**_

_**PLEASE REVIEW! COMMENT, ANYTHING! THANKS :D**_

**Chapter 14**

When the team arrived back in Konoha, they immediately went to the Hokage's office, intent on giving their report and gaining more information as soon as possible. Lina awkwardly knocked on the front door with her hand that was connected to her burned shoulder.

"Come in." Lina looked at Raidou for help, and he helped her open the door. As Lina had been injured in both arms, she was slightly incapacitated, even if her dislocated arm was now only throbbing instead of piercing with pain. The team walked into the Hokage's office, bowing before Tsunade. Shizune and Tonton happened to be in the room, as was Sakura. Pakkun sat beside Tonton at the foot of the desk.

"How was it?" Tsunade got right to the point, but before she said anything, Lina held up a hand. Looking around the room, Lina wanted to be absolutely sure that no one was listening in, considering their tail while on the mission, the spy equipment in the inn, and the attack on her when they were coming home. Of course, she didn't expect there to be any, considering it was the Hokage's office and of course she would know if there were any extra ears, but to be safe, Lina took a quick scan of the room. Meanwhile, she began rambling on, faking her way through a report, to not rouse any suspicion.

"Oh, it was fine. The target was…" She continued on and on, making up some yarn as she paced around the room, ignoring the looks everyone was giving her. She had almost concluded that it was all clear when she felt a microscopic shift in the air slightly to her right, at one end of the windows placed behind the Hokage's desk. Reaching up, she silently released the tiny genjutsu that seemed to have been placed, only to find a listening device placed on the wall. She heard a gasp and whirled around, pressing her finger to her lips to motion silence. Turning back, Lina removed and disabled the earpiece, but then she felt two more shifts in the air from two separate points across the room. Turning back to the group, she awkwardly made 2 Water Clones and dispatched them to the shifts, where they disabled the genjutsus at the same time, revealing two more listening devices. Immediately after, Lina felt four more shifts, and created two more clones to diffuse them. When the final four shifts had been completely disabled, she felt no more differences in the air or anything in the room. Taking one final scan, Lina probed every corner of the room, all surfaces and crevices, motioning the Hokage to 'please' step away from the desk so that she may examine it, and found that the room was clear. Letting out a breath she hadn't known she was holding, Lina finally spoke normally.

"Sorry, Hokage-sama. I hope you know that my 'report' just now was completely fake, and only used to give me time to disable these things here." She and her clones held up seven listening devices that had been placed in various parts of the room. The group looked at her, dumfounded.

"How did you know they were there? I didn't even know!" Tsunade was beyond shocked, but really it wasn't that big of a deal. Lina told her so.

"Oh, it was actually relatively lucky of me. See, the genjutsus that were placed seemed to be layered on top of each other. So, the first one I dismantled led to two more, which would only reveal the last four if they were disabled at the same time. So, if I hadn't made those two water clones, we would not have found the last four. Also, I think these genjutsus must have been made so that the person would need to come back and re-do them every once in a while, because the strength of each time seemed slightly stronger than the last. The first one was probably due to be re-done today, because the hold of the genjutsu was weakening. If the jutsu hadn't been dying, I never would have felt it, no matter how paranoid I was being." Lina concluded her explanation.

Looking down, she wondered…."Would you like me to put them back? You might be able to figure out who's being planting them there."

Tsunade shook her head. "I have a pretty good idea who's put them there." Tsunade slammed her fist against the desk, eliciting a shriek from Shizune, which she ignored. Honestly, the woman had been travelling with her for years! Tsunade calmed down and tried to think. Of course, it would be one of the council elders, or Danzo. Most likely both, considering Danzo had a way of persuading those old bats to do just about anything if it was 'for the sake of the village'. Idiots. Putting her head in her hands, she desperately wanted a drink. But there were 4 shinobi standing in front of her, waiting to give her their report, not to mention Shizune and Sakura would never allow it.

"Well, go on. How was the mission, really."

Lina launched into her mission report, giving a brief but much more detailed analysis of all that had happened. She took out the three scrolls she'd placed all the evidence she could find in, and placed them on the desk. Since the scrolls kept all items in suspense, there was no chance that they would be decayed. Finally, she pulled out a map and pointed out where Daisuke and Pakkun had tracked Kabuto to, although there was no saying whether he would still be there by the time the next team arrived. When she was finished, she stood in front of the desk, unsure of what to do.

"Wow." Sakura said unconsciously, before slapping her hand over her mouth. _ 'This little girl did all that? That's incredible!'_ She was starting to see the girl in front of her in a new light. As she glanced over to Kakashi, she saw something change in his eyes, a softness as he looked at his captain. And why wouldn't he? She'd found evidence that could potentially lead to more answers and a plan to attack Kabuto, found his possible next location, and gotten no one else injured except herself. She'd even helped bring the children who'd been kidnapped back to their families, and rounded up several of the kidnappers to boot! Why she was still only a chuunin was beyond Sakura's comprehension, because she certainly deserved jounin status. And it seemed Tsunade was thinking on a similar plane.

"Genma, Raidou, Kakashi. Report. How was Sasaki Lina as a leader while on this mission?" The three stiffened, and Lina bowed her head slightly in embarrassment. _'She's going to ask them while I'm in the room? Urgh, talk about awkward!' _

"She was a good leader at times, but an uncertain one in others. She was incapable of making decisions for herself, always asking us for our opinion. She became panicked towards the end and rushed into decisions without thinking them through. Overall, I'd say she needs more experience." Genma gave his report, being blunt but truthful. Lina cringed at his words, knowing he was telling the truth, but still unwilling to hear them. Raidou was next.

"She was a good leader. Sure, she had some uncertain moments, but she kept us all alive, finished the mission, got extra information that none of us would have been able to gather, and even managed to not let us get injured. The only injuries received on the mission were her own."

"Yes, but that was because of her own recklessness. If she hadn't left for so long, she wouldn't have been caught by the masked person, and she wouldn't have been injured." "But she couldn't have known that, and in all honesty it could have happened to any of us! Plus, she was already injured to begin with from the fight with those men in the hideout." Raidou and Genma argued back and forth before Tsunade raised her hand to silence them.

"Kakashi?" He stepped forward. "She was a good leader, but she could be better. I'd recommend you give her more missions to give her experience before you decide." Lina looked at him and then back at Tsunade.

"Wait, decide what?" Tsunade clasped her hands together, overlapping fingers, and rested her chin on top of them, appraising her.

"This mission was also a way to see if you could be promoted to jounin status. Considering your extensive abilities, and your comprehensive knowledge for the outside world, I was hoping you could be a jounin without having to take the exams. But it seems you're not ready." Lina's eyes very nearly bulged at this. As elated as she was to hear that the Hokage actually believed she had the abilities to become a jounin, she was equally disappointed to hear that she had failed the unknown test. But in her heart, she knew she wasn't ready anyway. How could she be, when she was so lacking in teamwork skills, considering the last team she'd worked on had been over a decade ago? Lina bit her lip in disappointment, but nodded.

Tsunade sighed and lifted her chin off her fingers. "Well, there's no rush. It's not like we're at war, so you can take the extra time to train and work on your team work and leadership skills." Lina raised her head and smiled, nodding once more. "Yes!"

"Oh, and one more thing. You said you felt you were being followed throughout the mission, and Lina you were attacked by a masked person. Can you describe them?" Lina shook her head. "No, the mask seemed like ANBU, but there were no markings or anything that might distinguish them. It looked like an incomplete mask. And the clothing was all covered up by a travelling cloak, but I could see that it was black. And whoever it was who attacked me was definitely the same person who was following us, or at least he was one of them, since we only felt one signature throughout, but we were almost sure that there was more than one." Lina began rambling as she got more into the tale, but Tsunade held up her hand once more.

"Alright, I guess that's all for now. There really isn't any way to definitively figure out who the shinobi was, short of summoning every single one to this office to see if you recognise the chakra, but we can't do that. Don't discuss this with anyone, understood?" Lina nodded her head, as did her three accompanying shinobi. Tsunade looked at Sakura and Shizune, ensuring they agreed as well. "Good, now go to the hospital. You need to get your injuries checked out. I'll have the Konoha forensic lab look at the stuff in the scrolls. Don't bother handing in your mission report, since this mission was top-secret." Lina nodded and she and her (now former) teammates bowed and showed themselves out, Pakkun following his summoner.

Lina turned to the three shinobi and tiredly smiled. "Well, it's over. I'm going to go to the hospital to get checked, you three be sure to go home and rest. Ahhh but here's your extra luggage, I nearly forgot!" She pulled out her summoning scrolls and summoned the extra clothes and stuff the team had stored throughout their mission. Most of it was dirty laundry now, but it didn't reek too much considering it was all in suspension from the scroll. Each member took their clothes and packs. "That's it then. Thank you for working so well and bearing with my lack of experience. It was fun." As she spoke, she slowly walked backwards, waving at them. Before she could turn around, Raidou stepped forward.

"Um, Lina-san. Do you want to go out sometime? For coffee or lunch or something?" Lina stopped, surprised, but then smiled widely. "Sure, Raidou-san. I'd like that. But not now, ok? I think I'll take a few days off to rest up first. But we'll see each other around, so I'm sure we'll meet up eventually." Raidou smiled back and nodded. "Of course. Feel better, Lina-san." "Thanks!" Waving towards the other guys, she turned back around and headed to the Konoha hospital.

After being treated and thoroughly scolded by the medic-nins for re-locating her shoulder by herself AS WELL AS leaving her burn injury in bandages to the point that it got all pus-filled, Lina was finally healed and sent on her way home. Walking out of the hospital, Lina wasn't paying much mind to her surroundings, simply enjoying the freedom, until she heard a cough come from right behind her. Turning around, she saw Kakashi leaning against the hospital walls, looking as lazy as ever. She noticed that he had gone home to drop off his extra baggage before coming to see her.

"Kakashi-san, what are you doing here?"

"I happened to be passing by. How's your arm? Or well, arms." He walked up beside her and they started walking together.

"Much better, thanks for asking. The medic-nins were great, although I could've done without the lecture on not properly caring for myself, ahaha." Kakashi laughed, knowing full well what she meant. Sakura, Shizune, and Tsunade always made a point of complaining about how easily Kakashi got injured, and it seemed the medic-nins were learning to do the same under Tsunade's rule.

"Oh I know exactly what you mean. It's not like we shinobi MEAN to hurt ourselves. It's just a hazard of the job."

"Exactly!" They fell into a comfortable silence, walking slowly and taking in the village. They hadn't spoken about what had happened that first day on their way back home, and nothing like that had happened afterwards, seeing as Raidou had taken over the duty to look out for Lina, but there was still some tension between them. Sexual or not, they both felt something towards each other.

"Umm, sorry about not telling you about the unofficial jounin test." Lina looked towards Kakashi before shaking her head. "Don't worry about it. It's better that you didn't tell me, because this way you were able to see how I really am, versus how I'd act if I'd known. It would be terrible if you'd told me, and I'd passed, and then I'd gotten my first team as a jounin killed because of my inabilities, you know?" Kakashi nodded, glad she understood.

For a little while, neither of them spoke. Then, "So, where are you headed?" Lina asked curiously. She noticed that Kakashi was walking with her instead of going home, which was in the opposite direction.

"I'm going home with you." Lina sputtered after hearing Kakashi say this in such a matter-of-fact way, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Wh-what?"

"What? I want to see Kurenai." Kakashi looked down at her, quirking an eyebrow. "What, did you expect something...else?" He leered at her, almost willing her to take the bait.

"N-no! Of course not! I'm just surprised, I didn't realise you two were so close." Lina wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or disappointed. _'Wait, disappointed? Why?' _She tried not to think too much about it.

The duo arrived at the apartment and walked in.

"Kurenai-san? I'm back." Lina called out, motioning Kakashi to enter. They heard clanking coming from the kitchen and made their way in. Kurenai poked her head out of the kitchen and greeted them.

"Oh, you're back! Welcome back, how was the mission? Oh hey, Kakashi, what are you doing here?" She seemed surprised that he'd come, which wasn't too odd considering he'd never really been an overtly social person. Kakashi raised his hand in acknowledgement.

"Yo. How are you?"

"Good good. Um...are you staying for dinner?" Kurenai inquired politely. She seemed unsure of what to do. Lina looked between them, wondering why they seemed so awkward with each other if Kakashi had said he was close to Kurenai.

"Oh, uhh..sure. That is, if Lina-san doesn't mind. After all, you've been with me for three weeks straight, I wouldn't blame you for being tired of me." Kakashi massaged his neck awkwardly. Lina shook her head and smiled.

"Of course not! You're welcome to stay. Or, you could go home and change and stuff. It should be a couple of hours until dinner is ready, you can come back closer to that time." Kakashi shook his head. "I think I'll stay."

Lina shrugged. "Kurenai-san, how are you doing? You should be nearly in your 6-7th month now, right? You sure you should be up and about so much?"

Kurenai shook her head. "I'm fine, Shikamaru's been taking good care of me. And besides, I can't stay in bed all day, I'd go crazy!" As a kunoichi, she was used to being on active duty, and not being able to train or do anything was really wearing thin on her patience.

Lina nodded. "Well, Kakashi-san, why don't you have a seat, you and Kurenai-san can catch up while I go take a shower. I need to re-bandage my shoulder anyway." As soon as the words left her mouth, Lina blushed, remembering the incident at the stream. Immediately looking away, she didn't notice Kakashi's face also burn up slightly, although Kurenai certainly didn't miss it. _'Ooooh, more dirt. Yum!'_

XXX

While Lina as in the shower, Kurenai took the time to talk to Kakashi, starting out with the mission. After they had exhausted the topic, which didn't take long considering the secrecy of it, she moved in for the kill.

"So, what was that just now between you and Lina-san?" Kurenai smirked as she watched Kakashi stiffen slightly. If she hadn't been looking for it, she never would have noticed, but being a genjutsu expert, she was well aware of body movements.

"What do you mean?" Kakashi stalled as he tried to think of an excuse. Damn Kurenai and her keen eyes! He tried not to move too much, but also not stay too still.

"Oh don't give me that! She said something about having to redress her bandages and you both turned into tomatoes! What happened?" Kurenai was full-on grinning now, as she watched Kakashi some more. True, she and him had never been close, that was more Asuma, but she still considered him close enough that she could get juicy information from him.

"It's nothing. Really." But Kakashi was remaining tight-lipped on the subject, much to Kurenai's disapproval.

"Yeah, right. Well, whatever. I'll get it out of her, even if I can't get it out of you."

"And what makes you think there's anything to get out of her?" Kakashi countered.

"Your faces." Kurenai replied smoothly. She leaned back against the sofa and rubbed her abdomen slowly. "But seriously. I'm surprised you're giving her the time of day. She doesn't seem your type. Tall, beautiful, big-breasted. Well, maybe she has you on that last one, I dunno, but still." Kakashi didn't say anything for a moment. _'I don't understand it either'_ he thought.

But he knew that she was definitely different from the other girls he'd been with. Of course, those girls had only been useful for a release, and none of them had lasted very long. But Lina, he was starting to consider her a friend. He wasn't fully trusting of her yet, not when he had so many walls up from all the losses he'd carried as burdens throughout his years. But she was...different. Real. But before he could think any further, Lina had come out of the bathroom, her hair back into the messy low side bun she'd worn throughout the mission and even before. Kakashi distinctly remembered how she'd left her hair out before arriving in Konoha, that first time they'd met, and he was somewhat disappointed that he didn't get to see it again. He did prefer his women to have their hair down.

"Hey, I'll get started on dinner now. What would you like, Kakashi-san?"

"Oh, anything is fine. You're the cook."

"Right, but you're the guest." Kakashi smiled at that. Ignoring Kurenai's pointed stare and grin, he said, "Broiled saury?" Lina nodded, remembering. "And let me guess, eggplant?" Kakashi gave her an eye crinkled smiled. "That sounds delicious." Lina laughed through her nose and looked at Kurenai. "And you, Kurenai-san?"

"Oh, there's some leftover stir-fry I made for lunch that I can finish. Do you mind heating it up for me?"

"You got it." Lina padded into the kitchen and began the preparations. The saury would take a while, so she worked on that first, heating up the oven. Then, after placing it in the oven to broil and soak in the sauces she'd mixed, Lina set to work on the eggplant, humming softly.

"Need some help?" Lina turned around to see Kakashi walking in.

"That's really not necessary, I'm nearly done. Just got the eggplant left. Go relax, sit with Kurenai."

"She's actually gone to her room to rest, it seems the baby's acting up a bit." Lina knit her eyebrows together, and Kakashi hastily back-pedalled. "I'm sure it's nothing."

"No, you're probably right. Um, you're more than welcome to keep me company in here, but I feel I should warn you. I'm not feeling up to much talking at the moment, so you may have to carry the conversation a little."

"Maa, don't worry about that, we don't have to talk. But are you alright?" Kakashi settled down on a chair at the small wooden two-seater table placed at one end of the kitchen, watching Lina work.

"No, no, nothing like that. I guess I'm just a little tired." Lina coated the chopped eggplant with the sauce she had made and placed them on a sheet in the oven, next to the saury. Then, she put several cups of rice in the rice cooker to steam. Wiping her hands, she was finished. Now it was just time to wait.

"There, done. Now, just gotta wait for 45 minutes and then another 15, and we're good to go." Lina sat down across from Kakashi with a sigh.

"Thanks. By the way, you've made food for me, and Kurenai's got her leftovers, but what are YOU going to eat?" Lina looked up and smiled. "Ramen." Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Ramen?" Lina nodded her head. "Yup." Kakashi stared at her for a moment before shaking his head. "You know that's not healthy right?" Lina shrugged. "I missed it! You have no idea how badly I had a craving for ramen while on the mission. But nooo, as your mother I had to eat healthy. It was horrible!" Lina fake-sighed as Kakashi laughed, thinking of Naruto. They sat like that, appreciating the other's company, and slowly the smell of food filled the kitchen. When Lina had said she wasn't up to talking much, she had meant it. She just sat there, resting her chin on her crossed fingers which created a bridge under her face. Kakashi didn't mind, preferring to watch Lina's face while she allowed her mind to wander. Soon, though, she realized she was being a horrible host and gave him a guilty smile.

"Sorry, I told you I'd be terrible company. Um, you can read Icha Icha if you want, I don't mind." Kakashi was about to answer when they both heard a gasp. Looking towards the entrance to the kitchen, they saw Kurenai standing there, watching them.

"Lina-san, you know that he reads Icha Icha?"

Lina nodded her head. "Of course. Why, is it some sort of secret or something?" She looked between the two.

Kurenai shook her head. "Well, no, but I'm surprising you're ok with him reading it. I mean, there aren't many women who would accept a man reading porn in public." Lina laughed at that. "Maybe, but I'm not most women, especially considering I read it too. Maybe not in public, though. And it's not just porn! The romance stuff in there is kind of sweet! Jiraiya-sama is really a great author."

Kurenai raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "Not you too…"

Lina laughed. "Yup, me too." Kurenai shook her head once more and padded back to her room to rest. Turning back to the table, Lina looked at the time, and noticed there was only about a half hour left until the food would be ready. She got up and said, "Well, I'm going down to Ichiraku's to get takeout. Want to come?" Kakashi stood up.

"You're buying rather than cooking?" Lina nodded. "I can't make ramen nearly as delicious as Teuchi-san does." Kakashi watched her walk up to Kurenai's door and knock.

"Kurenai-san? I'm going to Ichiraku's with Kakashi. We'll be back in about 20 minutes, but in case we're late, could you come out and turn off the stove in 30? I put your food in the oven to heat up too, to save electricity, and it should be ready soon." They heard a muffled 'ok' and set out together.

When they arrived in Ichiraku Ramen Kakashi wasn't the least bit surprised to see his former student and current teammate slurping down what looked to be his fourth bowl of pork ramen. The young man looked up, noodles hanging from his mouth, as he sensed his former teacher enter the restaurant.

"Kaka-sensei!" Kakashi smiled and raised his hand "Yo" before pulling open the curtain to allow Lina to step in. Naruto gulped down the rest of his mouthful and warily looked at the girl, remembering how she'd twisted his finger that one time in the baa-chan's office.

Lina smiled, remembering her encounter with the Kyuubi only a few short months ago. Kakashi didn't say much about him, other than that he was much stronger than he looked, but even Lina could tell that. After all, who better to judge an underestimated person than herself? Luckily for him, he seemed to also remember the encounter, which stopped him from making any inappropriate comments. For now, anyway.

"Hi there. Uzumaki Naruto-kun, right?"

"Yeah. Erm….uh.." Naruto searched his memory for her name, but he couldn't remember any more about her.

"Lina. Sasaki Lina." She supplied helpfully, and he bobbed his head. "Right. So, Kakashi-sensei. What are you doing with her?"

"I'm having dinner with Lina-san and Kurenai. We're just picking up food."

"Ooooh ramen? You like ramen?!" Naruto finally gave Lina his full attention. After all, no one who liked ramen could be a bad person, right? Lina cheerfully nodded, having finished ordering her meal. "Of course! But not just any ramen. I'm sort of picky, and definitely spoiled, having come from Konoha. I can't seem to finish as much of any other type of ramen except Ichiraku's. Teuchi-san and Ayame-chan are truly magicians with food." Naruto nodded and grinned. "Yeah! They're awesome!" He turned back to find his next bowl readily sitting in front of him and he dug in. Lina smiled as she watched him eat so care freely. She found it hard to believe that such a sweet boy, if somewhat dopey, was actually the Jinchuriki. Kakashi, on the other hand, had to turn away, slightly sickened, after seeing the boy chow down many, many times before. Before long, the food was ready, and Lina and Kakashi bid Teuchi, Ayame, and Naruto goodbye.

XXX

Ayame looked at Lina and Kakashi's retreating backs, her mind whirring. After working in the restaurant for years, she and her father had developed the knack for reading underneath the underneath, similar to Kakashi's teachings (if Naruto was to be trusted, which of course he was), and she could smell something different about those two. It was rare for Kakashi to come into the restaurant with anyone but his team. Normally, when he was in here, he was alone, and only came to pick up take out. She decided to get more information.

"Naruto-kun? Who's that girl Kakashi-san was with?" Naruto looked up from his food, sucking on his chopsticks as he thought. "Mmmm…I don't really know her. She's a chuunin, and she's really strong even though she looks so small. Ummmm that's all I know." _ 'Well, that was a bust.'_ But Ayame was not one to give up so easily. She remembered the girl had come to eat several months ago with the rest of the rookie 11, and had told stories about travelling around the world for years. But that wasn't what she was interested it. What she _was_ interested in, was the reason why Kakashi seemed to be sticking close to her. Even if it was subtle, and even if it WAS the Copy Ninja, Ayame could tell that he was acting differently.

XXX

"We're back." Lina called out. She heard a moan come from the bedrooms and panicked. Shoving the takeout bags into Kakashi's hands, she ran towards Kurenai's room, forgetting to take off her shoes in the process.

"Kurenai-san? Are you alright?" Lina pressed herself against the door, listening. She only got a moan in response, so she shoved the door open. Sitting on the bed, gripping the edges tightly, was Kurenai, her face scrunched up in pain. Lina and Kakashi rushed to her side.

"What happened?"

"The baby's kicking really hard today. It hurts so much." Lina searched through her memory for something that would help with the pain, thankful that it was only kicking. Thinking of nothing, she softly placed her hand on the bulge that represented the baby's home.

"Kakashi-san, could you get Sakura-san? Or Shizune-san, either would work. Kurenai-san, I know you said it's nothing, but it's better to be safe, right?" Kurenai nodded, her face still contorted. Lina distantly felt Kakashi put down the takeout and run out the door. Turning her attention back to Kurenai, she tried to make her as comfortable as possible.

"Why don't you try lying down, maybe the change in position will shift the baby and calm it down?" Lina support Kurenai as she slowly made her way back to the head of the bed.

"I'll be right back. Gonna get more pillows." Lina left and came back with two pillows from her room. She created two water clones, who helped support Kurenai on each side while she placed the pillows underneath her back as support. When Kurenai laid back down, she sighed in relief and gave Lina a grateful smile.

"Thanks, that's better. I think the baby's calmed down a bit, I don't feel her kicking." Lina looked up and smiled. "Her? It's a girl?" Kurenai nodded and smiled back. Tiredly, she closed her eyes, and Lina took that as her cue to leave. She closed the door behind her, leaving only a slight crack open .

Minutes later, Kakashi and Sakura walked into the apartment, Shikamaru in tow. Apparently he'd met them along the way, and being Asuma's old student, had been obviously distressed to hear that Kurenai was in pain. Lina quickly told them to be quiet.

"She's sleeping right now. I put more pillows under her, which seemed to change the baby's position and calm it down. Sorry, Sakura-san. It seems that I sent Kakashi-san to get you for nothing. You too, Shikamaru-san, Kakashi-san."

"It's alright, we were all worried. Kurenai-sensei is part of our little shinobi family, we're always available for her." Sakura was relieved that Kurenai was alright, but she felt the medic-nin in her nagging her to check for herself. "Umm, do you mind if I check on her anyway? I don't want to wake her, but she shouldn't be feeling this much pain from a baby kicking her." Lina nodded and led the way, Shikamaru shadowing them, as was Kakashi.

"Kurenai-san. I know you're tired, and I'm really sorry to wake you, but Sakura-san is here to check on the baby alright? We're going to make sure everything's ok in there." Kurenai opened her eyes briefly before nodding and closing them again, tired. Sakura nodded and began performing the exam. Lina led the two males out of the room, allowing Kurenai some privacy.

"Tea for either of you?" Lina asked as she shut off the oven. Looking at the saury and eggplant slices, as well as Kurenai's food, it seemed that everything was still intact, and ready to eat. Shikamaru and Kakashi shook their heads, Shikamaru sitting down on the couch as Kakashi opted for his original seat at the table in the kitchen.

Sakura walked out of Kurenai's room a short while later and gave Shikamaru a reassuring smile. "Everything's fine. The baby was kicking at Kurenai's ribcage, so she felt a little more pain than usual, but it's all good now." Shikamaru let out a sigh and ran his hand over his face. He hadn't said a word since he'd gotten here, but he hadn't needed to. Thanking Lina for caring for Kurenai, Sakura and Shikamaru left, but not before asking Kakashi if he was coming too.

"You coming, Kakashi sensei?" Sakura asked. Kakashi shook his head. "I'm staying to have dinner with Lina-san. At least, if that's still alright with you." Lina nodded her head. "Of course. Why wouldn't it be?" Sakura and Shikamaru looked between the two, puzzled. But if they were thinking anything, they certainly didn't say it.

Soon, it was just Lina and Kakashi. She looked at him and said, "Well, shall we?" Kakashi nodded and they walked into the kitchen. Lina served Kakashi's food and unpacked her own.

"Itadakimasu!" Lina dug in, remembering to keep her eyes down to allow Kakashi to eat without having to shovel everything in at once. Kakashi let down his mask and ate, savoring the feeling of Lina's cooking.

"Mmm, this is delicious!" Lina smiled into her food. "Thanks! Enough seasoning for you?" She joked, remembering Genma's complaints while on the mission. Kakashi laughed. "It's perfect." They stayed like that, eating in silence, a comfortable feeling between the two...friends? Lina wasn't sure what they were. She felt like his friend, but then again, when she thought about it, she really didn't know much about him, nor he about her. He was still a mystery, except now, he was a familiar one. Lina certainly enjoyed the company that he gave her, but she wasn't sure how she felt about allowing him to get so close to her when she knew nothing about him.

Meanwhile, Kakashi was wondering when was the last time he'd eating a home-cooked meal that was cooked by someone other than himself. The last one he could remember was one his father had cooked. Kakashi couldn't remember the food, but he did remember the satisfaction he'd felt, sitting down with his father. That had all been before 'that mission'. The one that had ended up slowly eating away at his father, until it had driven him to kill himself. But before that mission, Kakashi had remembered warmth. After, nothing. Even his sensei's attempts to get him to open up, no matter how probing, hadn't made Kakashi felt the same way. Maybe because, deep down, he had known that he didn't belong, not in Sensei and Kushina-san's life, at least. But he felt safe here, with Lina. He felt, home. Of course, he also felt the pull of being an outsider, but the welcoming feeling of home coupled with Lina's smile as she joked with him casually, brought out emotions Kakashi had thought were long gone.

"Umm, Kakashi-san?" Lina's voice brought Kakashi back to the present and he looked at her, who still had her head bent down towards her plate.

"Yes?"

"I asked if you were done. Is everything alright?" Even with her head down, Kakashi could see the frown on her face. He shook his head slightly and smiled, pulling up his mask.

"I was just thinking that I need to get the recipe of this meal of yours." Lina smiled and blushed a little. It had been a long time since she'd cooked for anyone other than family. Even cooking for Kurenai was different from this.

"Thanks, that's an amazing compliment. But I can't take full credit for the sauce at least. See, when I was travelling around the nations, I stayed in the land of Noodles for a while. As you can imagine from the name, their noodles are amazing. Well, while I was there, I met this family who owned a small shop, and they taught me how to make their soups and sauces and stuff. Of course, I felt bad for mooching off of them, so I tried to make my own version of them, and this is one of the ones I came up with. It's actually because of them that I started really getting into cooking. Before that, I was only a mediocre cook, only making food that was just barely on par. Well, I don't want to say that I'm an amazing chef now, or anything, but I'm definitely better than I was." Lina cleared the table as she talked. Kakashi watched her, and she could see his mask stretching, showing that he was smiling. As he watched her, Kakashi noticed how Lina's eyes danced with life as she talked about the family she'd studied with in the land of Noodles, and he couldn't help but smile. He listened some more as she continued.

"You know, I can't honestly remember everything I put in the sauce. It's always been more of an intuition thing than rule-based for me. So if you want to know the exact recipe I think you'll have to watch me cook with your Sharingan next time, so you can memorize it." Kakashi's eyebrows shot up at this.

"Next time?" Lina looked up, confused. "Huh?"

"You said, 'next time'. So, does that mean you'll be cooking for me again?" He watched Lina's face burn up slightly as she fumbled over what to say. "Oh! Uhhh….well umm, I mean- I didn't mean to assume anything. But you know, if you want to know the recipe, I will need to cook it again." Lina bent her head in embarrassment, and Kakashi almost laughed. He'd only been teasing, but he loved how he could get her so shy with a few words.

"Well, I hope there will be a next time, because this was really great." He looked straight at her as Lina's head shot back up, her eyes wide. Slowly a smile formed on her lips, that turned into a grin, and she nodded her head. "Yeah, it was." Kakashi smiled back. Getting up, he walked up beside her.

"Here, I'll do the dishes, you go have a seat."

"Oh, that's really not necessary!"

"Nonsense, you cooked. I'll wash up."

"No way I can let you do that. My mom always taught me, a woman must always do the housework and never let a man do it for her. 'It gives her a bit of the control in the house', she'd say. While I don't necessarily believe in that women need to stay so traditional, I've gotten it ingrained in my head, so I can't seem to help it anymore."

"Well, I'm glad you don't agree with your mother, because I'm helping no matter what." Lina looked up at Kakashi, who smiled down at her. Pursing her lips in a mock-annoyed way, she placed her hands on her hips.

"Fine, We'll split the work. I'll wash, you dry."

"Deal." Kakashi flashed her a wink and helped her flip on the water. Rolling her eyes, she set to work. They washed and dried in companionable silence, knocking elbows or touching fingers every once in a while. Finally, they were done. Lina turned from the sink and leaned against it and sighed. "There, we're done." Kakashi imitated her form and slouched, crossing his arms. Then, Lina stood up straight.

"So, what now? Coffee? Tea? I think I saw some juice in the fridge." Kakashi shook his head.

"No thanks, I'm quite full as it is. Thank you for the meal, it was really good." Kakashi almost wanted to invite Lina over to his house one day, but he still didn't feel comfortable enough to let her cook in his kitchen. Sure, she'd come over that one time when she'd first arrived in the village, but she hadn't stayed very long and was only in the living room.

"You're very welcome, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Sorry I made you run all the way over to get Sakura-san for nothing." They had moved towards the door and were now standing in front of it.

"Don't worry about it. We were all worried for Kurenai, and I would have gone to get her even if you hadn't told me to."

Lina reached around him to open the door, pausing ever so slightly to prolong the moment of closeness before she gave him one last smile, which he returned.

"Well, I guess this is good night. I'll see you around."

"Good night, Kakashi-san. Be careful on your way home." After saying that, Lina almost wanted to smack herself. _'Be careful on your way home? It's the Copy Ninja, of course he'll be fine! Jeez Lina, how stupid can you be?'_ Her disappointment in herself must have shown on her face because Kakashi gave a low chuckle and said in a teasing tone, "Thanks." He seemed to want to say something more, but was hesitant. Or maybe it was Lina's own imagination, she wasn't sure. Either way, both waved at each other and Lina shut the door.

Pressing her back against the door, Lina sighed. She reflected on how the evening had gone. She hadn't felt up to talking much at first, but it seemed that as the evening wore on, Kakashi had made her more and more comfortable just with his presence. She looked down at her hands, remembering the camaraderie and friendship she'd felt when eating with him, the closeness between them as they washed dishes together. And then suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Surprised, Lina opened it and poked her head out.

"Kakashi-san! What are you still doing here?" Kakashi stood in front of the door, his hands stuck in his pocket and he gave an embarrassed laugh. "Ahaha, I was wondering if you would feel up to training with me tomorrow." Lina's jaw slackened. _'Train? With THE Hatake Kakashi?!'_ Kakashi must have mis-read her face, because he immediately retracted his offer, saying, "But if you don't want to, it's fine. I just thought it would be nice, but it's fine if you're busy."

"N-no! No! I'd love to! I-I mean, I'd like that. Say 10am? Give me some extra time to sleep in." Lina stammered, half-smiling. Kakashi smiled and nodded. "Sure, training ground 4?" It was the same training ground he'd tested her in with the bell test, and he knew she recognized it immediately as such. Lina gave a knowing smile and nodded. "Training ground 4. 10am. Don't be late this time?" Kakashi started and pretended to be offended. "I wasn't late last time!"

"Yes you were! You arrived after me, and I was running late, which automatically made you late too." Lina teased, her eyes twinkling with mischief. "Not to mention you were late for the start of the mission! I had to get my water clones to drag you all the way to the gates!" Kakashi shook his head and let it go. "Whatever. Tomorrow at 10am in training ground 4." Lina's gaze softened as she nodded. "Right. Well, good night Kakashi-san." "Good night, Lina-san."

Lina shut the door once more, and bit her lip to hold back a sigh. The way he'd said her name that last time had struck something in her, causing her heart to pound so strongly that when she looked down she could actually see her chest bobbing up and down in time with the beats. Lina silently walked to Kurenai's room to check in on her before turning in herself. As she lay in bed, she unconsciously put her fingers to her lips as she thought about Kakashi's mask stretching, indicating his smile. _'What would it be like to touch him…?'_ Before the thought could get too out of hand though, Lina twisted onto her front and screamed into her two remaining pillows, smiling ridiculously wide. Tomorrow couldn't come quickly enough for her.

At the same time, Kakashi was envisioning Lina's eyes and smile as she'd teased him about being late. No, she wasn't beautiful in the traditional sense, but she _was_ pretty when she smiled and looked so alive, and he still hesitated outside her door, wracking his head over if there was anything else he could come up with as an excuse to knock on the door again and see her face. Finally concluding that there was nothing more he could say without looking completely mental, Kakashi silently teleported back to his apartment. It was only after he'd arrived that he remember what Lina had said the first time she'd said goodbye._ 'Be careful on my way home, eh? That's cute.' _Smiling to himself, Kakashi padded into his bedroom and threw himself on his bed, looking up at the ceiling. He couldn't wait till tomorrow.

XXX

The next morning Lina awoke to the sound of birds chirping outside her window. As she slowly adjusted to the light streaming into the room from the edges of her blinds and curtains, Lina remembered what she was supposed to do in the morning. Immediately, she hopped out of bed, hissing loudly but not slowing down in the slightest when she stubbed her toe against her drawer corner. Lina grabbed some comfortable pants and a loose shirt and hopped in the shower. While in there, she made sure to scrub every portion of her body, despite constantly reminding herself that it was 'only training' and there was no need to be so careful. After all, they were friends right? If he couldn't handle a little sweat, he didn't deserve her. Not that she _wanted_ him to deserve her. No way. Not at all. Well ok, maybe a little. But just a microscopic amount. That's it.

In the Hatake apartment, things were, well, silent. Like, dead silent. Kakashi was still asleep. Of course he would be, considering it was 8am.

As Lina rushed to get ready, and then paced around her bedroom nervously willing time to go by faster, and Kakashi lay in bed for an hour before drowsily getting up to shower and get dressed, the rest of the village was also getting ready for a busy day. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, there was a beautifully warm yet cool breeze going, it seemed like the start of a perfect spring day.

Lina walked down to Training ground 4 , arriving slightly early. She was surprised to see Kakashi leaning against one of several wooden poles standing staggered around the fields. Now that Lina could take a look at the training ground, she saw that it was split up into three sections: the wide stream the ran between it and the next training field served as a water arena, the staggered wooden poles helped training shinobi learn to weave around objects to get to their destination, and the forest in which she'd taken the bell test with Kakashi served as an area of cover, perfect for practice in spy-work or hide-and-seek battles. Other training fields had the same three arenas, but were laid out in different ways. For example, the training field 2, in which team Kurenai and Lina had used as practice grounds, had the forest directly against the stream, making training shinobi practice walking on water (chakra control) to hide-and-seek to weaving and dodging, one after the other.

Lina walked towards Kakashi, smiling when he pushed off his pole and waved.

"Yo." Kakashi gave a cheery smile.

"Good morning." They stood there, unsure of where to go from there.

"Umm, so how about some stretches before we start? I'm assuming we'll be sparring." Lina suggested.

"Sure, sounds good." They stood apart from each other, not exactly facing each other because that always felt weird. No one liked spectators while they were doing something so obviously unflattering. Yet, as they stretched, each person couldn't help but glance at the other though the corner of their eye, watching them move their body, twisting, turning, unlocking, releasing muscles, until they were thoroughly stretched. Done, they looked at each other.

"So, sparring. Rules?" Lina asked. Kakashi looked at Lina and thought.

"To start off, how about only a taijutsu spar? No ninjutsu or genjutsu for now, to get the muscles going." Lina nodded at this. It was common knowledge that in a spar all the punches were pulled, so there was no need to mention that. But, "How about ninja tools?" Lina broke out in a wide grin. "Use 'em if you got 'em." _ 'Hehehe, I can use my summoning scrolls!' _But Kakashi caught her train of thought and wagged his index finger. "Uh uh. No summoning scrolls, that's cheating." Lina pouted. "How?! It's not my fault you weren't prepared enough to pack some of your own!" Kakashi shook his head. "No way. Summoning scrolls require chakra to release, and if this is purely taijutsu then that isn't fair." He crossing his arms and closed his eyes, despite loving the way Lina pouted and bemoaned the loss.

Finally, he heard "Fine. But I'm still gonna beat your ass, even if it's only with my tools in my bag." Kakashi looked at her, grinning, and he had to smile.

"You know, you shouldn't get too cocky. Just because you beat me ONCE, doesn't mean you'll beat me always."

"Oh, I'm not cocky. I'm healthily confident! And there's no way I'm giving up till I win, so...so there!" Lina ran out of steam halfway through her trash-talk and ended off lamely, making Kakashi laugh as her face shone brightly like a freshly polished ruby.

"Alright, if you say so. How about we get started? And I'm not going easy on you just because you were injured, because I know for a fact that those medic-nins fixed you up fine yesterday."

"Good, I wouldn't want you to."

Kakashi dropped down into his stance, unveiling his Sharingan, and Lina did the same, mirroring him. She was flattered that he felt the need to use his special eye on her, so she didn't protest the unbidden 'chakra use'. They crouched like that , bouncing from one foot to the next, trying to discern what the other was going to do. Then, in a blink of an eye, Kakashi ran forwards, aiming directly for Lina's head. Lina barely had time to block her head before she had to use her other hand to block a knee to her stomach. _'Damn, he's fast.' _She feigned a right hook and aimed for the gut with her left hand, but Kakashi's sharingan caught on to her actions and he immediately blocked both, making a wide sweeping gesture with his feet to collapse Lina from the legs up. She jumped just in time, but he had already managed to aim for her jaw. As she jumped up, she tried to block the elbow to her jaw, but was too slow, causing her to somersault backwards a couple of times. Landing on her back with a groan, she barely had time to feel the pain when she saw Kakashi coming from above, trying to land in a kick. She rolled aside, just barely dodging the kick, and got up quickly. _'Oh, it's on!'_ She thought.

Getting up, Lina began punching, kicking, trying to land a hit. After not being able to hit any part of Kakashi, she decided to use her height to her advantage. Usually, she hated using her height, as it only served to draw the opponent's attention to how short she was, but desperate times called for desperate measure. She allowed Kakashi to kick and punch as she blocked, waiting for her time. Finally, it came Kakashi punched with his right hand, and Lina stepped to the side, making him hit a wall of air, before she ducked und his arm with little effort and tried to sweep Kakashi off his feet. But it seemed that Kakashi was still too fast for her, as he was able to do a reverse sweep on her, making her land on the ground for the second time in 15 minutes. The difference this time, was that Kakashi had landed on top of her, crouching on all fours above her, one knee on each side of her hip and his hands holding her arms down firmly to stop her movements. Lina looked from hand to hand, down to her torso, and then up at Kakashi. She was stuck. Panting hard, she stared up at Kakashi, noticing sweat slightly glistening from his brows. She could feel her hair all over the place down her neck, and she knew the low side bun she'd gotten used to pulling her hair in must have gotten loose somewhere along the line. As she watched Kakashi watch her, both trying to regain their breath, she thought she saw something flicker in Kakashi's eyes. And then she heard it.

"I win." A low, breathy, sentence, just barely above a whisper, from the person leaning down from above, his face hovering just above hers. And she snapped. Pulling herself together, Lina took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and pretended to give up. Only for a moment. After that moment, she opened her eyes and smashed her forehead against Kakashi, hitai ate clashing together, making him reel back in surprise. And she pounced on him, mirroring the actions he had done to her, with her own variation. Crouching with both knees at his hips, Lina sat down on Kakashi's hips to prevent him from flipping himself up, and kept a firm grasp on both his hands. Kakashi stilled as he began to realize the similarities of the pose from the one he'd used and looked up at Lina. "No fair." Kakashi whined, and Lina grinning, panting. "What are you talking about? I'm just doing what you did."

"_I_ didn't sit on you!"

"No, but you're stronger than me, and a lot faster, which is why I need to do this." As Lina looked down, she kind of wanted to quote the Icha Icha Violence line 'We really need to stop landing in this position' from when Ryu and Manami were somehow tricked into fighting each other. Of course, in THAT scene, those two had ended up having sex, which was not something she thought was going to happen in this particular situation. Little did she know that Kakashi was thinking about the exact same scene. Both Kakashi and Lina slowly regained their breaths, and as the seconds ticked on, their bodies loosened and conformed to each other. They stayed like that, staring at each other, each feeling a rush of emotions come from the other, and wanting to react but also not wanting to ruin the moment, in case they were wrong. Out of nowhere, two birds flew out of the forest directly beside them, singing and flying together as if in a sort of dance. Lina and Kakashi instinctively looked up at the sudden noise, watching the birds until they disappeared into the forest again. When they looked back at each other, Lina was halfway off of Kakashi, and he was leaning up on his elbows. They stared at each other for a moment before breaking out into wide smiles. Lina got up and dusted herself off before reaching out to help Kakashi up. He took her hand and tried to get up, but it seemed that Lina didn't have a good standing position, because as soon as Kakashi pulled, Lina came tumbling down on top of him with a surprised shriek.

"Ahh!" After landing, Lina rolled off of Kakashi, clutching her stomach while breaking out in peals of laughter. Kakashi sat up and stared at her before going into a fit of chuckles himself. After they had calmed down, Kakashi ended up being the one stand up reaching down to help her up.

"How about we try that again?"

Lina, still giggling, reached up and grabbed his hand. This time, there were no mishaps, and they both ended up standing upright. Lina dusted herself off for the second time, fixed her hair back into the low side bun, and looked at Kakashi. "Whew! Alright, now what? Ninjutsu?" Kakashi looked down at her and shrugged. He was disappointed that she'd put her hair up again after undoing it, but he didn't let it show. "Sure, we could do that. But I think working on taijutsu would be more beneficial. While we were sparring just now, I found several things you could work on. If you like, I could help you work on your weaknesses in taijutsu." Lina nodded. "That's actually a good idea. I am weaker in taijutsu than ninjutsu, and since I'm more of a mid- to long-range attacker, I'm always going to be at a disadvantage if the enemy gets close to me." Kakashi nodded. "And that makes me a good sparring partner for you, since I'm good in close combat. Of course, Gai would be an even better instructor, considering he specializes in taijutsu, but he's a little intense."

Lina giggled at this. "Oh come on, Gai can't be that bad!"

Kakashi raised his eyebrows at her. "Have you MET Gai?" Lina laughed harder. "Alright, alright, I'll admit he's a little...different. But he's really sweet!" Kakashi shook his head. "Sure, sure. Now, we'll start with your strength and work our way up to speed."

They both dropped down to the their stances, and Kakashi began correcting and helping Lina. Kakashi used the wooden poles to explain much of his teachings. They soon found that Lina was much more likely to disarm the enemy from the feet up rather than the head down, considering her considerable size difference, and so Kakashi had to adjust his method to accommodate that, but he didn't complain or comment whatsoever. Lina, on the other hand, tried not to think about it, but was extremely embarrassed about her height being such a huge factor. Eventually, they worked out a method in which Lina used the enemy's weight against them, attacking from the floor up. It required the enemy to punch out, which Lina would catch with her hand, pull the enemy so that their top half was bent at the waist, and then she would kick the enemy up and away while kneeling on the ground under them. After using this method, they tried creating variations to work for different scenarios, and Kakashi began coming at her from different angles, and from different stances, to test out her new skills. By the end of the training session, several hours later, she was slowly getting the hang of using the lower body to her advantage. Somewhere along the line, Kakashi's jounin vest had been taken off, and his shirt now clung to his body from all the sweat, showing off his muscles. Not that Lina was any better. Even though she'd worn a loose t-shirt to allow herself to move, it now clung to her body, accentuating her own figure.

Finally, they both collapsed on the ground, panting. It was now just past 1pm, and both shinobi were starving, not to mention exhausted. Even without chakra exhaustion, the physical part of being a shinobi was still demanding as ever. As Lina reached to take a gulp of her water, she found the bottle unsatisfyingly empty. Looking around, she noticed that her other water bottles were littered around her, also empty. Exhausted, she was too tired to complain, but Kakashi didn't need to hear her complaints to know what she needed. Finishing drinking from his own water bottle, he tossed it over. "Here." Lina caught it and looked at him blankly. "What?" Kakashi looked back and pointed to it. "Drink." Lina looked down and then back up at him, a smile crossing her face. "Thanks." Neither thought much of the indirect kiss that would result. It was as normal to a shinobi as fighting. And besides, it was an unwritten rule: If you are training with someone, and they don't have water and you do, share. Nobody wanted to be the cause of a comrade's dehydration. Lina took a long swig from the bottle and tossed it back to Kakashi, laying down on the ground to look up at the sky. She felt Kakashi come lay down beside her and do the same. Neither spoke for a while, just soaking in the sun and feeling the breeze. But eventually, their hunger caught up with them. Lina's stomach gave a loud grumble as it complained at the lack of food inside itself. At the sound, both Lina and Kakashi started, sitting up together. Lina looked down at herself and covered her stomach area, her face burning up as Kakashi laughed. "Why is it always only me who's stomach makes noises? Aren't you hungry?" Kakashi continued laughing, until his own stomach gave an answering growl. At this, Lina burst into a fit of laughter while Kakashi massaged the back of his neck. "Maa, I guess that's your answer. O-oi! Stop laughing!" Which of course only made Lina laugh harder.

When she had finally calmed down, she got up. "Well, how about we go have lunch? It sounds like we're both starving." Kakashi got up as well and nodded. "Sounds good."

"Great. Where to?"

"How about that tea shop we went to after the test?" Kakashi suggested. Lina broke into a smile. If she remembered correctly, the food there had been superb. "That sounds great." They walked there quickly, since their stomachs were both starting to protest quite loudly and frequently. When they got there, Kakashi and Lina sat at a window seat, watching the villagers, civilians and shinobi, go about their day. Smiling lightly, Lina sipped her citrus tea. It was lucky no one complained about two shinobi sitting in their dried up sweat in the tea house.

Kakashi watched Lina looking outside the window, enjoying the view. As a furrow crossed her brow, Kakashi asked, "What?" Lina looked at him and then back at the window. Pointing out, she asked, "Who's that?" Kakashi looked out towards the direction she was pointing at, and saw none other than Shimura Danzo, hobbling down the street with his cane.

Not sure if he was the one she was talking about, Kakashi asked. "The man with the cane and bandages?" Lina nodded.

"That's Shimura Danzo. He's one of the few older shinobi still left from the Sandaime's time. Why, do you know him?" Kakashi watched Lina's face scrunch up further as she tried to figure out where she knew him from.

"I'm not sure. I feel like he's familiar somehow, but I can't figure out how." By now, Danzo had disappeared into the crowd, so they both turned back to their meals, which had finally arrived. Digging in, neither said a word for some time, too intent on filling their stomachs. After some time, Lina lifted her head up to look at Kakashi, knowing that he was already finished eating. Just as she suspected, Kakashi was done, and was currently stuck nose-deep in Icha Icha Tactics, volume 1.

"So, um, do you want to make training like this a regular thing? I mean, if you're free, because I know you have your team and everything." Kakashi looked up from his book and nodded, giving his usual eye-crinkled smile. "Sure. I'll let you know if I have a mission, but how about we say twice a week? What's the day today?"

"Um, I think it's Thursday. So how about Mondays and Thursdays?" Kakashi nodded in agreement. He trained with Team Kakashi on Tuesdays and Fridays, and one-on-one with Yamato on weekends, so that worked. And then he got an idea. Putting his book down, he said, "You know, you could come train with us on Tuesdays and Fridays."

"Us?" Lina asked, and Kakashi nodded. "Me and the rest of the team. Sakura, Naruto, Sai, Tenz-Yamato." He watched Lina think before she remembered the group she'd met briefly. Of course, she remembered Naruto from just yesterday, the same with Sakura, but it took her some time to recall the other two.

"Ahh them! Ooh I'd love to, but I can't. See, I train with my own team on Tuesdays and Fridays."

"Oh, that's fine then. If you ever change your mind, you're always welcome." Lina smiled at that. "Thanks." By now, she had finished eating, and so the two paid (well, more accurately, Lina paid for them both, again!) and walked out of the tea house. It was now mid-afternoon, and the village was bustling with people going about their day. Lina decided she'd like to take a shower before she spent the rest of the day relaxing.

"Well, thank you for the training, I really did appreciate it."

"You're welcome. Remember that you need to be faster with that second kick when you're getting them from behind. But we can work on that more next time." Kakashi reminded. Lina nodded. "Got it. So I'll see you Monday? Find me if you have a mission, and I'll do the same."

"Will do. Bye, Lina-san." "Later!" They walked away from each other and went home separately, each smiling slightly after spending practically the whole day together.

XXX

In the early evening, Lina opened her front door to find Tenten waiting impatiently at her door.

"Tenten, hey!" Lina hugged the girl and ushered her in.

"Lina nee-chan! Thank God you're back! You have no idea how BORING it's been without you in the village for the last month! Honestly, I don't think I can stand staying home another night."

"Oh? What about your friends? Neji-kun?" Lina wiggled her eyebrows, teasing her adopted little sister. Tenten blushed madly. "Nee-chan! It's not like that!" Lina laughed and steered her into the living room, where Kurenai sat watching tv.

"Hi, Kurenai-sensei. How are you?" Tenten felt slightly awkward talking to her, consider neither really had much to say to each other. Kurenai smiled kindly and waved her over. "I'm good. Have a seat." Tenten looked at Lina.

"Ohh, well actually...I was hoping I could get you to come with me to the club down the street tonight? The rest of the gang is coming too. It's Thursday, so women get in free. What do you say?" Lina looked back at Kurenai, unsure. She felt bad for leaving her all alone at home right when she had just come back, but at the same time, a drink did sound good. Kurenai waved her off. "Don't worry about me, you go have fun. After-mission drinks is kind of a tradition in this village." Lina smiled back at her and nodded.

"Alright then! Tenten, why don't you go home for now, and we'll meet up later." Tenten nodded and said, "The group's going out to eat dinner first, if you want to join us." Lina shook her head. "No thanks. I'll stay home with Kurenai-san, I already ate take out last night, so I should eat healthy." Tenten laughed and waved goodbye.

XXX

As Lina got ready to go out, she looked through her closet. What to wear, what to wear. She wasn't sure if she wanted to pick up a guy, not when Tenten and Hinata would be there to watch, but she wanted to show off her more feminine side. Besides, she was still fairly sure that no one would look at her that way, considering how plain she was, even with makeup. But she decided to give it a try anyway. It was always nice to dress up once in a while. Picking out a pair of dark skinny jeans that would accentuate her toned legs, Lina paired it with a dark green kimono-style top that had elbow-length flow-y sleeves, and dipped down in front to show off a little cleavage, all while having a light spring green flower pattern lining the lower region of the shirt as well as the ends of the sleeves. Keeping her hair in the usual low side bun, Lina accessorized with her simple silver rose necklace that Souta had given her that she never took off, silver flower stud earrings to match, and 5" green wedges to give her a bit of a lift. As for makeup, seeing as she never felt comfortable wearing it unless she was in henge, Lina opted to only wear a little lip gloss. Coming out of her room, she walked into the living room, where Kurenai sat, still watching TV.

"How do I look?" Kurenai looked over at her roommate, and almost did a double take. Gone were the sweaty t-shirt and track pants, and in their place were clothes that were definitely not slutty, or even clubbing material, but certainly a nice change from the usual beige or black dress that she so often saw Lina in.

"Nice, very cute. But why don't you let your hair down? I think it would frame your face well, and look good with the top." Of course, being Lina's roommate, Kurenai had seen Lina with her hair down many times while in the apartment, but she noticed that she always put it up before leaving. She watched Lina shake her head. "I don't know. I just don't feel comfortable leaving my hair down, I guess." Kurenai shrugged and turned back to the TV. "Okay. But why are you so dressed up? I doubt Kakashi cares how you dress." She fought the urge to snicker and look back at Lina, but she could tell that the girl was getting fidgety.

"I-it's not like I dressed like this for him! This is for me! I-I just fe-felt like looking pretty, that's all!" Lina's neck and face were now bright red as she tried to defend herself, and Kurenai finally allowed herself to look back at the girl. Giving her a smirk, Kurenai said, "Whatever you say. Tell Kakashi I say hi." Lina's eyes widened as she realized Kurenai didn't believe a word of it, and she blushed even harder.

"He's not going to be there! A-anyway! I'm going now, so you be careful. I'll be home a little late, so I'll try and keep it down." Lina grabbed her black satin clutch, opened the door and walked outside.

"Bye, have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Lina laughed shakily and closed the door behind her. She walked out of the apartment and made her way to the address Tenten had given her. It didn't take long for her to get there, and even less time to find the group she was looking for, once she walked in. After all, with Naruto being the loud shinobi he was, and Lee's enthusiasm, it was difficult NOT to notice them. Smiling lightly, Lina made her way over to them, weaving through some already dancing couples.

"Hey." The group turned towards her, and she had to smile in her head when she felt Kiba look her up and down, and Naruto and Choji's stares. But she kept her eyes on Tenten and Hinata, who were both standing with their teammates.

"Nee-chan!" "Lina nee-chan!" They both ran up to her, hugging her tight. Laughing, Lina hugged back before pulling away to look at the two. The girls had changed into their civilian clothes, and were now in casual wear, similar to Lina. Tenten wore a pink flowery spaghetti strap dress that was shaped to fit her body wonderfully, with her hair still in the two buns beside her head. Hinata, on the other hand, had decided to wear a dark purple maxi skirt paired with a lavender frilled short sleeve top that tightened at the waist and wrists. They both looked beautiful and as Lina looked over at Ino and Sakura, she found that those two had also changed into clubbinig-style outfits, although Ino seemed the least conservative, with her mid drift showing, and a matching mini-skirt. The boys had stayed in their normal shinobi clothing, but Shikamaru left his chuunin vest at home.

"Wow, you guys look amazing." "Us?! Look at you! You're so pretty! But why didn't you let your hair down?" Tenten exclaimed, dragging her over to sit down as the rest of the group settled down. Looking around, Lina saw that the club was a shinobi club, seeing as there were no civilians around. After ordering a drink, Lina said, "I don't know. I'm used to having my hair like this. Why didn't _you_ let _your_ hair down?" Tenten nodded in understanding. "Same, I guess." "But it's a shame, you'd look much better with it down, right guys?" Ino butted in, asking the males of the group to respond. Of course, being males, their responses varied from, "Oh, uh, yeah." to "Sure". Except for Lee.

"Oh of _course_, Lina-san, oh beautiful lotus flower of Konoha, you would look so beautiful with your hair down. But you look so dazzling right now that I cannot imagine you looking more splendid, but having your hair down would _certainly_ increase your beauty!"

Lina laughed and was about to respond when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around in her seat in the booth the group had chosen to relax in, Lina looked up to see Raidou, followed by Genma, who was yelling something over his shoulder at several other shinobi who were situated a few tables away. "Lina-san?"

"Raidou-san! Hey, oh and it looks like you have Genma-san too. How are you?"

"Good good. Umm, wow, you look really pretty today." Raidou stumbled through the compliment, blushing slightly as he and Lina both remembered the first time they'd met.

"Thanks, Raidou-san. Do you want to sit?"

"Oh, no, we just came to say hi. We actually have to get back over there, but you're welcome to come over and say hi. Hey Genma, look, it's Lina-san!" Genma looked at her and his eyebrows raised. Lina was slightly disappointed she wasn't able to make him drop his damned senbon, which he'd taken to chewing on again after the mission. "Hey." Lina was about to respond when Tenten cut in. "Nee-chan, I really think you should put your hair down. Pleeeeeaaaaase?" She clapped her hands together once, giving Lina puppy-dog eyes. Ino nodded her head in agreement, but Lina shook her head once more.

"No, I can't. I really don't think-" "Oh come ON!" Ino apparently had had enough, and promptly dragged the woman into the bathroom, Tenten hot on their tails, Hinata and Sakura following while asking if this was a good idea. Right before entering the female bathroom, Lina caught a glimpse of silver hair as she brushed past a male too fast to see his face. On the other hand, Kakashi certainly saw hers, and had no time to do anything but stare before she was pulled into the washroom. _'Was that…?' _They both thought.

"Guys, are you sure about this? Lina-san doesn't want to…"

"Oh stop being a baby, Forehead. We'll just give it a try in here. If it really is that big of a deal, we'll let her put it up again." Ino said distractedly as she pulled Lina towards the mirror. Noticing the other girls inside, Ino looked straight at them and pointed to the door. "Out!" The girls scurried away, knowing Yamanaka Ino as the one girl you didn't want to piss off in a club. She was liable to spread nasty rumors about you the next day if you did! Turning back to Lina, she placed her hands on her hip, and smiled. "Well? Take your hair down, and let's have a look." "Come on, nee-chan! I'm sure you'll look beautiful. And if Ino thinks it, there's no way she's wrong." Lina looked at from Ino to Tenten, to Hinata and finally at Sakura before she turned and looked into the mirror. Sighing, she looked at the girls once more through the mirror. "You guys really have no respect for your elders, do you?" She teased, smiling when they rolled their eyes and motioned her to hurry up. So she did.

Since she'd tied her hair up in a bun immediately after towel-drying her hair, and hadn't bothered to dry it, plus the fact that her hair had a natural tendency to be wavy, when Lina let down her long black hair it was like one of those hair commercials, hair spinning out of a bun as she shook it out by swaying her head. Placing the hair tie into her clutch, Lina lightly tousled the roots of her hair, letting the curls that had formed naturally come together and cascade down her shoulders and down her back. Finished, she pulled a few strands from the side and let them fall in front of her shoulders to frame her face a little better. Finally, she looked to the girls in the mirror, and raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

The girls stared at her. Of course, Tenten had seen her with her hair down that first time they'd met back in the Curry of Life shop, but this time, the hair was actually curled perfectly because of the bun it had been held up in, rather than slightly limp from being day-old. The other girls had never seen Lina with her hair down, seeing as Ino and Sakura didn't know her that well, and even Hinata hadn't since Lina was usually surrounded by Hyuuga's while doing her babysitting missions and hadn't felt comfortable enough. So when Lina asked them how it was, all they could do was stare before Ino broke the silence among them (because of course they could hear the clubbing music thumping in the background).

"And you keep you hair up _WHY_?" Lina looked at Ino. "Huh?"

"You. You can't keep your hair up. It's a crime against fashion! It's, it's, it's-" "I think what Ino-Pig is TRYING to say, is that you look really pretty, and we all think you should keep it down. At least for tonight. Right guys?" Sakura supplied helpfully after Ino had been reduced to 'it's, it's, it's'. Lina looked around the bathroom, facing the girls rather than the mirror, and when each girl nodded her head, Lina smiled. She hadn't had this type of girl-talk in so long that she'd almost forgotten how great it was. So, she relented. "Fine. But only for tonight. It's back to the bun tomorrow, because I don't think I can function with it down all the time." Ino and Tenten whooped, Hinata clapped her hands, and Sakura gave an exasperated smile to Ino. They filed out of the bathroom and made their way to their table.

"Hey guys. Look!" Ino called, getting the boys' attention, as well as a few newcomers. On the way over, Lina had suddenly been overcome with a bout of shyness, and began staring at the ground. After all, it was one thing for girls to think you were pretty. How on earth would the guys react? Not that she really cared, since they were just boys, but still. Kiba and Shino were on her team, and the rest of them were friends of the girls. So when she arrived at the table and heard Ino call all the boys' attention, Lina was desperately trying not to fidget. When she didn't hear anyone say anything, she lifted her face to take a peek. What she saw shocked her.

The boys were all there, Naruto, Kiba, Shino, Neji, Lee, Shikamaru, Choji, Sai, but with them were Raidou, Genma, several other shinobi she didn't recognize, Sakura's second captain who Lina thought was named Yamato, and most importantly, Kakashi. All staring at her. The small group (well, ok, _medium_ group) had turned into quite a crowd. It seems that Genma had been in the process of beating up Naruto for something, with Yamato in the middle of them trying to break it up, but Lina barely had time to think about it before the boys started stumbling over themselves.

"Lina-san?! Whoa, you look HOT! I mean, well I'd recommend some mascara and a little eyeliner, but wow!" Lina wasn't sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult, so she shot Kiba a confused look. Shino, she found, had only looked at her for a moment longer than normal before returning to his drink, making her smile. At least he wasn't acting like an idiot. And she'd expect nothing less from the Aburame clan. From the two months she'd trained with him, she'd found his silence comforting at times, even if it was a little disconcerting at others. As she looked at the other boys, Lina found Naruto with his jaw hanging open slightly, to which Lina felt very guilty about. She could tell Hinata felt something towards the boy, so she hated that she was the one to make the boy feel that way. But moving on. Shikamaru had already turned away, and Choji was now back to chomping on chips, albeit while staring at her, and with a slightly slower pace. While she was examining the boys, the men of the group began to speak.

"W-wow Lina-san. You look…amazing." Raidou stammered out a compliment, and Lina awarded him with a very sweet smile, making him blush, which of course made her smile wider.

"Lina-san? Whoa, talk about a makeover." Lina glared at Genma, and walked right up to him. "Oh? So, I look good?" Genma looked back at her, surprised. "Well, yeah." "But not as good as Hana did."

"WHAT?!" He nearly fell out of his seat at the mention of the pseudonym she'd used. Quickly, Lina henge'd into 'Hana', deciding it was finally time for him to know the truth. The look on his face was priceless. Pure unadulterated shock.

"Y-y-you! Sh-she!" Genma whipped his head around at Raidou, who of course wasn't the least bit surprised, having know for nearly a month now. "YOU KNEW?!" Genma stormed as he realized, and Lina smirked.

"Now you know too." Turning away, Lina ignored him, only to catch Kakashi's gaze, which was fixated on her rather intensely. And suddenly, Lina felt shy all over again. Fighting the urge to bite her lower lip and ruin the lip gloss still clinging to her lips, Lina gave a small smile, unconsciously fluttering her eyelashes in the way that all women do without knowing it. "Hi." Kakashi took in a small but deep breath at that first syllable. Who knew the word 'hi' could be so profound? He stood up and walked towards her, no longer having 3 other shinobi in their way. When he arrived, he looked down at her, and said with equal intensity, "Hi. You...you look good." He had to exercise an extreme amount of restraint to not go further and said, 'you look amazing'. Better to play it cool for now.

Lina's smile faltered for a moment when she heard that (_'I look 'good'? What does _that_ mean?'_) but she didn't let it slip too far before she'd pulled it up again. Smiling brightly, she said "Thanks" before moving to have a seat, leaving Kakashi feeling stupid. He'd noticed her smile fade, of course he had, and he felt ridiculous at how guilty it made him. But there was no time to think about it, as Lina was now being introduced to Yamashiro Aoba, another tokubetsu jounin like Genma and Raidou, and Kotetsu and Izumo. As Lina talked about why this was the first time they were all meeting her, Kakashi couldn't help but feel disappointed in her lack of attention going to him. He listened distantly to the conversation, taking down several shots when no one was looking.

A short while later, the DJ of the club announced that it was now karaoke time, apparently something new that they were implementing to give the DJ a break and the bands time to set up. Several kunoichi and shinobi got up on stage or took mics to sing in their own little corner, one after the other. As Lina and the rest of the group clapped and cheered, Hinata suddenly had an idea. But, she wasn't sure Lina would go for it.

Leaning in, Hinata semi-shouted into Lina's ear, "Why don't you go up there and sing? If I remember correctly, you had a beautiful voice. You should share it." The look she received confirmed her suspicions. Lina shook her head vehemently. "No way! I can't! And by the way, I do NOT. You were a kid back then, and I'm sure your memories have become distorted with the years." "But-"

"What are you guys talking about?" Kiba asked, having noticed the exchange, at the same time alerting the rest of the group who wasn't already in a conversation. As everyone except Kotetsu, Izumo, Genma (who was already off with some girl), Yamato (who had excused himself after only a few drinks) and Ino (who was chatting up some guy who'd come over to her)turned around, Lina took a quick sip of her drink. Unfortunately, Hinata took this time to mention to everyone what she had suggested.

"I was just saying that Lina nee-chan should go up there and sing. She used to sing to me while babysitting, and she had a beautiful voice. Tenten, did she sing for you?"

"You know, now that you mention it, she did! Oh Nee-chan, please go up there! Please!" Tenten once again began pleading, but Lina was adamant.

"No. No, no, no, no , no. I can't! I have incredible stage fright, no way." "But it's just us! Please, you really did have a beautiful voice, you should show everyone!" The boys started adding in their own opinions, trying to encourage Lina to go up, but she stood firm.

"How about if you sing from here?" Sakura asked innocently, and everyone turned towards her.

"YEAH! Come on, you say you get stage fright, so if you sing from here, it's just like you're just singing for us!" Naruto interjected when Lina tried to refuse once more. Not hearing another word, he bounded off to get a microphone and the book of songs. Meanwhile, Lina was face-palming herself, shaking her head. Moments later, he was back with a wide grin on his face as he shoved the book into her lap.

"There, now pick."

"But-"

"Nee-chan, just pick already!" Tenten said, practically bouncing on her seat with excitement. She and Hinata exchanged wide smiles. Neither had heard Lina sing since they were kids, and they couldn't wait to hear it now. Finally, Lina picked a song. It was a bit of an older song, one that she'd heard several years ago, but it was fun. Pointing it out, Lina passed the binder over to Naruto. "This one." He looked down and nodded. "I love that song! Be right back." He went up to the DJ and placed the order. After several other songs had been sung, Lina was now deeply regretting her decision. She had never sung for a large audience before, or even an audience at that. Her singing to Tenten and Hinata didn't count, as they had been children, and she had used singing as a calming device for them. Goodness knows she hadn't even sung for Souta! But it was too late to change her mind now, she thought, as the DJ announced the song.

"Well folks, it looks like we have a newcomer in town! Please welcome Sasaki Lina singing Haven't Met You Yet!" The DJ's voice boomed from the speakers and the music started. Lina picked up the microphone and began playing with it, waiting to begin. When she did, she kept her eyes down, singing more towards the drinks on the table in front of her than at the people surrounding her.

_I'm not surprised, not everything lasts_

_I've broken my heart so many times I stopped keeping track_

_Talk myself in, I talk myself out_

_I get all worked up then I let myself down_

Slowly, Lina had begun raising her eyes, until she was now looking at her group of friends. Nearly sighing in relief, she saw that each of them was smiling or encouraging her in some way, with Hinata and Tenten now clinging onto her arms. Lina smiled slightly and continued singing, gaining more confidence now.

_I tried so very hard not to loose it_

_I came up with a million excuses_

_I thought, I thought of every possibility_

Now reaching the chorus, Lina took the plunge and looked straight into Kakashi's eyes for the first two lines. She saw a softness in it, or maybe she was imagining it, considering the club lights were moving above them. As she moved on, she felt Kakashi's gaze on her, and that gave her even more confidence. Soon, she was swaying from side to side, although that might have been partly due to Tenten convincing Hinata to help nudge her from side to side.

_And I know that we can be so amazin'_

_And baby your love is gonna change me_

_And now I can see every possibility_

_They say all's fair in love and war_

_But I won't need to fight it_

_We'll get it right and we'll be united_

Finally reaching the end of the song, Lina's face was now adorned with a bright wide smile as she was given a standing ovation from her group of friends, of course led by Naruto, who had been grinning throughout the song. Rolling her eyes, Lina blushed and stared into her lap before using her drink as an excuse to hide her face.

"That was so good! See, nee-chan? I told you, you were a good singer! Look around, everyone's clapping!" Tenten shouted in her ears, and Lina couldn't help but laugh. Throwing an arm around both her girls, Lina brought them close and said, "Thanks.". Both girls looked at her and smiled, knowing it was not just for the compliment. As the clapping died down and the other singers began their turn, Raidou took Hinata's spot while she opted to sit beside Kiba, who was sitting beside Naruto.

"That was really good, Lina-san." Lina turned and looked at Raidou and smiled. "Thanks! I was super-nervous." "But you were still really good." They listened to the other singers, and soon, the bands were finished setting up. As the loud music began to play once more, Ino grabbed Sakura's and Tenten's hand, and motioned to Lina. "Come on girls, let's dance!" Lina shook her head and raised her hands up in defense.

"No way, I don't dance."

"That's not what I remember. In fact, if I remember correctly, you danced quite well with Raidou over here." Somehow, Genma had appeared out of nowhere, girl in tow. Looking him up and down, Lina saw that his hair was slightly mussed and his mouth a little swollen, not to mention his pants were bunched up oddly. Showing her disgust, Lina still shook her head. "That was as Hana. That's different."

"How?" Genma countered, despite his girl tugging at his shirt, cooing. Lina looked her up and down, and thought, '_How on earth did _she_ become a kunoichi?_' before answering his question.

"Well, for one, I was taller. And prettier. I don't think they want a short average-looking girl out there dancing." Lina said it so matter-of fact-ly that Genma, who had been about to walk away with the girl, stopped abruptly and stared at her. Not that he was the only one. Raidou had fully turned around, spitting out his drink into his glass after hearing Lina say that. And Kakashi's gaze suddenly seemed so much harder to Lina, even if it was only with one eye. Looking at them, she blankly asked, "What?"

"You're not ugly." Genma said, and Lina had to smile.

"Thanks, but I never said I was. But it's good to know that you think so too." She joked, but apparently that was the wrong thing to do.

"You know what I mean."

"I do. Thanks." Lina had to laugh a little. So, it turned out that Genma wasn't a total jerk.

Not to be outdone, Raidou spoke his two cents as well. "Lina-san, I think you're pretty. A-and, you're not THAT short." At the last part, Lina really had to laugh. Raising an eyebrow, she said incredulously, "Thanks. Not true, but thanks." When Raidou tried to protest, Lina simply waved him off. "No, no, don't even bother. Anyways, I can't dance. Sure, I can slow dance, but not club-dancing." Genma shrugged and let himself be towed away by a (by the looks of it very horny) kunoichi, and Raidou turned back to watch them leave. Lina couldn't bear to look up at Kakashi, worried as to what she would find. After what she'd said, how would he feel? Would he see the truth in her words and immediately friend-zone her? Or worse, would he _pity_ her? Now that she'd said it, Lina wanted to kick herself for letting him hear. While she hadn't thought she had a chance with him, she now realized that, even if it was only in the smallest, darkest recesses of her mind, Lina had hoped for that chance. And now she was almost positive that she had ruined any and all chances.

But Kakashi was not at all feeling what Lina thought he was. In fact, if anything, he was perplexed. Why on earth would she think that she wasn't pretty? Hadn't she seen herself in the mirror? As for her being short, Kakashi could care less about her height, considering everything else he knew about her. But, he also knew that self-loathing was a part of being human. Who didn't have a part of themselves they'd rather change? He certainly had many, probably more than most. As he watched Lina for the rest of the night while at the same time making small conversation around the group, he noticed that she never once looked back at him again, which led him to be even more confused. _'Did I do something?'_

XXX

All too soon, it was time to leave, as signalled by Ino, Tenten, and Kiba's increasing volume of speech as they got more and more drunk. The group broke up, the older shinobi waving the younger generation goodbye as they each helped carry the three drunks home. As Lina turned to leave, she saw Raidou standing around, awkwardly, as if he was waiting for her. Seeing her walk toward him, he smiled. Through the course of the evening, he'd become more and more open with her, and Lina was starting to see just how sweet he could really be.

"Hey, Lina-san. So, umm, how about we have that lunch tomorrow?" Lina smiled and nodded. "Sure. I have training with Kiba-kun, Shino-kun, and Hina, but how about after that? You might want to eat a later breakfast though, because training will probably run past noon. Pick me up at 1?"

"Sure, that's fine. Where?"

"Oh, umm training ground 2."

"Got it. Would you like me to walk you home?" Lina was about to say yes when she caught sight of Kakashi hanging around, looking at her. Thinking he was waiting for her, Lina shook her head. "Thanks, Raidou-san, but I think I'll be fine. You have a good night." She watched Raidou walk away before turning to walk towards Kakashi. She hadn't looked at him for the rest of the evening, since her little confession about dancing and her height, and so she wondered what he wanted with her. Of course, she didn't think of the possibility that he wasn't looking for her at all.

"Hi."

"Hi." They stood like that for a moment, Lina waiting for Kakashi to say something. When he didn't, Lina hesitantly said, "Well, I guess I'll see you around. Good night." She walked away, feeling dejected. But no sooner had she gone a few steps, she felt his presence right behind her, and smiled. _ 'He wants to play it like that? Fine, I'll let him be my shadow.'_ One thing that wasn't normally shown to others, was Lina's undying patience when she had the determination to wait. So, completely ignoring Kakashi, Lina made it all the way home, knowing full well that he was walking just a few steps behind her. She ignored the odd looks she received and simply walked in a straight line towards home. Finally arrived, Lina got out her keys to open the door. Kakashi was still right behind her, but silent as a mouse, so she received quite a shock when she felt his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey." Lina turned around and looked up at Kakashi, immediately noticing his intense stare. Of course, now that it was directly in front of her instead of facing her back, Lina finally felt the full force of it.

"Hi." Aaaand they were back to this again. How many times did they need to say hi?! Lina stood in front of her door, looking up at Kakashi, and he down at her. He could see the confusion in her eyes, and he unconsciously took a step forward, making her step back, which only made him step forward again. They kept moving until Lina hit the apartment door with a low thud. The sound seemed to make Kakashi step even more forward, because the next thing Lina knew, she was staring up at him while he towered over her. The smoldering look in his eyes, almost as if he was just barely controlling himself, sent shock waves down her spine, making her grip her clutch even tighter. Maybe it was the moonlight, maybe it was the drinks already in their system. Whatever it was, both Kakashi and Lina could feel the moment so intensely that neither could bear to tear their eyes away, but at the same time were afraid to look at the other any more than they already had. And when Kakashi spoke, his voice so low and soft that Lina had to strain to hear, it was like the moment was finally reaching it's climax.

"You're not average-looking. You're…" Lina waited to hear the rest of the sentence, but when the moment passed, she asked, "What?" Lina's response seemed to clear Kakashi's head, as the smoldering look in his eye immediately cleared, and he stepped back. Clearing his throat, he said, "Nothing. You should go inside. Good night." He teleported away without waiting for a response, leaving Lina confused and disappointed. Quietly opening the door so as not to disturb Kurenai, Lina walked into her room and flopped onto her bed for the second time in two days. _'What was he trying to say? I'm what?'_ Lina flung an arm over her eyes and lay there, waiting for sleep to come. She knew she should get out of her clothes to not let them wrinkle but she was too distracted to think about that now. She dreamt of many things that night, but nothing more than that low, incredibly sultry voice. Each time Lina dreamt of it, she heard it in her ears, softly whispering other things as Kakashi did things to her that would have made Jiraiya's nose bleed. By the time morning came, Lina had come to the conclusion that Kurenai had already figured out 2 weeks after Lina had come back to the village. She was definitely feeling something for Kakashi. _'Oh no.'_

Meanwhile, after Kakashi had teleported home, he'd found himself banging his head against the wall. Why, why, why was he acting like a scared little boy? It certainly wasn't his first trip to the rodeo, so why did he feel so, so, NEW?! He let out a growl at his own ridiculous-ness, but then he thought about it. Of course he would be acting different. Lina was completely different from the women he normally picked up. She actually had a brain, for one thing. Kakashi had made it a rule of his to not go out with kunoichi, as the death rates on both their jobs just led to heartbreak. Not that he wanted to fall in love or anything. No, he was much too cynical for that now. After losing his father, Obito, Rin, Minato-sensei, and countless other friends, how could he still believe in love? But, he knew he felt _something_ towards Lina. And whatever that something was, it was driving him insane. He slowly drifted off to sleep, dreaming confusing dreams, in which Obito seemed to make fun of him as he told him about his problem, with Rin trying to play referee as she had always done, and Minato-sensei just watching and smiling, like the good old days. But in the morning, Kakashi awoke with a severe case of confusion. His genius brain had analysed everything, and come to a conclusion, one that his heart seemed to whole-heartedly support, but still he refused to believe it. He couldn't be falling in love. No matter what Obito and Rin said. There was no way. Right?

-end

_**As a special acknowledgement, I'd like to thank Anuxamurane, a reviewer on . I was feeling a little insecure as to whether I should put in that last 'outside the front door' scene, so I asked for her opinion, and she gave me some great ideas that may be featured in later chapters, not to mention that she helped convince me to keep that scene! So thank you very much, I love talking with readers. If any of you want to PM me, feel free!**_

Author's Note: So! How was this chapter? Lots more fluff eh? XD This was waaaaay easier to write, now that the damned mission was over. To be honest, I hated writing the mission, but I knew that they had to have SOME sort of contact before things really started heating up. From here on out (I hope) there will be more drama. By the way, do you approve of the ending? I feel like it was a little fast, and I'm somehow not satisfied with it…but at the same time I don't know how I'd change it to make it better. I dunno, maybe I'm just being hard to please LOL

By the way: The anime makes it a point to mention several times that Naruto isn't allowed to drink or do anything because he isn't 20. Well, since I made them go to a bar, assume that the age cut off is now changed to 16.

Also: lyrics to the club song do not belong to me at ALL. They are from Michael Buble's (YAY CANADIAN!) song Haven't Met You Yet. Adorable music video, I highly recommend Youtube-ing it, he's so cute XD

On a random side note: have any of you ever given yourself a hickey? I was hanging out with friends (and please keep in mind that I'm in my 20s) and we were playing truth or dare (yes, I know, super immature, but whatever), and I got dared to give myself a hickey. Awkwardest times EVER! After trying to do one on the back of my hand, the inside of my wrist, one of my friends (after laughing their asses off) suggested I try on my shoulder. So here I am, turning my face to a hard right to try and give myself a hickey on my shoulder (because if I didn't the punishment was going out and randomly singing Greased Lightning really loudly on the side walk, WITH DANCE MOVES!). Anyways, in the end I finally did it, and now that I'm at home, I keep looking down at my shoulder, where there's a giant red bloody-looking bruise, thinking, "What the fuck was I thinking?!" So yeah, that's a little bit about me. I just had to tell you guys that story, I needed to let it out. XD Next chapter will be out in a few days! Ja ne!


	15. Chapter 15

**Something I wanted to mention, just cuz it's somewhat relevant to the story: right after the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime, the Pain arc starts. Now, I personally want to develop more of the Lina/Kakashi/rest of the gang's relationships, so I'm stretching the time frame just a bit. Pain invasion won't come for a few chapters.**

As always, please review, comment, write something! I'm dying to know what you guys think. Ja ne! ;)

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. I do, however, own any original ideas or characters (such as Sasaki Lina) that I have created.

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Sasaki Lina is 29. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: **the Pain arc is still going to happen, I'm making Sasuke come back too, but Shinobi Alliance arc is still going to happen, as well as anything that didn't directly involve him in the anime/manga.** I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?)

_**PLEASE REVIEW! COMMENT, ANYTHING! THANKS :D**_

A note about the previous chapter: in the very beginning of the chapter, when I made Lina find the genjutsus. I know it seemed that I was Mary-suing her, but there was an explanation for that. I just thought it would be natural for Lina to be cautious about giving information about such a secret mission. Think about it: the team was given a fake mission, followed throughout their REAL mission, and she was attacked on the way home. It'd be weird for her NOT to be careful, right? She's a chuunin, but she's had 12 years away from the village. In all that time, you would think she'd grown up to be a cautious person, right? So yeah, that's why. I hope I explained it ok, because after re-reading the chapter I realized that that could be considered a major Mary Sue point. I mean, how on earth does a chuunin find a genjutsu that the Hokage and her two apprentices, not to mention ANBU staff who are undoubtedly flanking her, missed? But yeah, that's why. That, and she was really REALLY lucky.

A note about Lina's past: I made a change in that mission that killed Souta. I haven't gotten around to changing the first chapter, where the mission was first introduced, but the changes are here. Nothing too different, but the circumstances that left Lina unconscious are slightly different.

And finally, a note about the upcoming chapters: The next few chapters will run shorter than the usual few thousand words I normally write (or as of recently, the 10s of thousand words ehehe), but I promise they will have much more interesting content in them, so yeah. And because they will be shorter, you can expect them to be uploaded earlier too. So, yeah. I would combine the chapters together, but I'm feeling evil, and I wanna make ya'll squirm ;) But it won't be for too long, so don't panic XD Now, enjoy!

_**Chapter 15**_

When the sun rose the next morning, both Lina and Kakashi were wide awake, considering they both had to meet their teams early that day. And both happened to be thinking on the same plane of thought: last night. As Lina showered and got dressed for the day, mad at herself for sleeping in her outfit the previous night, she thought about what she'd dreamt about, and the conclusion she'd come up with. After wake up several times during the night after having the best dream orgasm she'd ever thought up, Lina knew she was in serious trouble. But as soon as she'd woken up and cleared the dream cob-webs out of her head, she realized she couldn't, she _wouldn't_ let herself get into that situation. Not again. Not after Souta. Lina absentmindedly toyed with her silver rose necklace, remembering his and her last moments together. She'd long since been able to depress the memories while awake, although she still had some trouble doing it at night. She still had horrible dreams about that mission. The one that had finally broken her.

_"Lina, it's going to be fine, you worry too much! It's just a recon mission, and you know I can take care of myself."_

_"But Sou, my stomach-"_

_"You've had false alarms before, this is just another one of them. Now come on, change into me."_

_xxx_

_"SOUTA! LET HIM GO! SOUTA!" Lina screamed as she ran after the jounin that had kidnapped her boyfriend, but they were only moving forward, seeming to think she was pretending that the 'little girl' they held was actually a male to protect 'her'. Finally, one of the slower ones turned back, with a devilish leer, and advanced towards her. Steeling herself, Lina bit down on her inner cheek till it bled to stop the tears. They fought, but with her massive chakra loss, he soon overcame her, drawing blood through long kunai slashed up and down her body as she lay defenseless, holding desperately to consciousness. She could hardly scream from pain from all the broken bones already in her, so the slashes only felt like slight burns to her already marred skin. The enemy laughed at her pain, finally satisfied with his handiwork. He knelt down to her, hovering just above her, and for a moment Lina's head cleared, at least long enough for her to wonder what he was going to do next. _

_"Be thankful I didn't scar you, pretty boy. But don't think your little girlfriend will be so lucky. We're going to do soooo much to her before we finally let her die. Think about that, as you lie awake at night. Think about how you couldn't save your girl. What kind of shinobi are you?" The enemy's words, while spoken smoothly and care freely, were like thorns in Lina's heart, slowly driving the pain deeper until she could hardly breathe. But she couldn't get up, could hardly move. In a flash, the enemy was gone, and she was alone. Finally, her brain allowed her the relief of drifting out of consciousness._

Shaking her head, Lina tried to rid herself of that memory, or at least deposit it back into the farthest crevices of her mind, only to be opened at night in her darkest dreams, or in her gloomiest of moods. Lina walked herself down to training ground 2, shivering slightly in the cool early morning air that still lingered for a few minutes before the sun peeked out of the Hokage Mountain top. Arriving slightly after dawn, she was pleased to see her team again, after being gone for so long. It seemed that Kiba had a major hangover, if Akamaru's whining and worried face was any indication. Being a person who knew the ins and outs of bars from years of experience, Lina had long since perfected the craft of curing any and all her hangovers with a blend of citrus tea (for Vitamin C boost, not so much to help with the headache and more to make her more awake), followed by her all time favorite breakfast, eggs and sausages with 2 bowls of day-old rice and lots and lots of soy sauce. It was greasy, it was salty, and it was absolutely the only thing that would cure her headache. So, smiling, Lina waved at the group.

"Good morning!" Kiba groaned in response, while Hinata gave a bright smile and a response, and Shino simply stood up from his leaning position.

"Ugh, how are you so _happy_ after last night?" Lina simply smiled in sympathy.

"Here, I think I have some painkillers if you want. I, being an adult, have learned the fine art of curing a hangover." Lina tossed the bottle to Kiba, who frantically opened it and sloshed some water into his mouth, shooting her a grateful look and appreciative groan as Akamaru whined some more.

"Mm, thanks. But if you're such an adult, why do you have painkillers?" Kiba countered, waiting for the meds to kick in. Lina rolled her eyes. "Just in case. Anyway, let's get practicing. I haven't been training in a month, so I'm a little rusty. How about one on one? Kiba-kun, Hina, you two train together, and I'll work with Shino-kun. Sound good?" The team nodded, glad to have a fourth (well, fifth, including Akamaru) member again. In the months prior to Lina's mission, the group had found that Lina was pushed to her limits the most when working with Shino. Despite their similarities in range, Shino's insects were capable of sneaking up on Lina, something she was not used to, and was slowly learning to defend against. However, Hinata's Jyuuken and taijutsu also helped Lina work on her own. Kiba and Akamaru, on the other hand, had some difficulty training with her. Since their attacks were mainly head on, Lina could easily dodge them. At first, Kiba hadn't been fast enough to react to Lina's dodging, but after several weeks of training with her, he and Akamaru had been able to increase their speed and reflexes.

After training for just over an hour, the team mates took a short water break before making it two on two. Lina had suggested in the first week of their training together, that the group make it a habit to take turns partnering up and sparring with the others. If the partners were constantly rotated, then each member would be equally competent in working with all other members. The team told her that Kurenai had suggested the same thing back in the days of Team 8, but with her being a genjutsu specialist, and the rest being genin, the method hadn't worked out quite as well. It had always been easier to work as three against one, And so, Lina and Shino, two who were naturally good in mid to long range attacks, sparred against Hinata and Kiba, who were naturally good in short to mid range attacks. This seemed to be the perfect way to practice together, as one never knew if they would have the luck of having a mixture of ranges on their teams. If, by chance, they were paired up with someone who had the same range as themselves, how would they attack someone who had a different range from them? How would they defend themselves? This way, Hinata and Kiba helped Lina and Shino work on their transition from techniques to taijutsu if they ever got close enough, and Lina and Shino helped Hinata and Kiba work on fighting from a distance. It was perfect.

Several hours and a few more breaks later, the five members collapsed on the ground, exhausted. It was now about time for lunchtime, and so Hinata pulled out the bentos she'd made. Just then, Lina remembered that she was having lunch with Raidou, and sure enough, she saw him walking towards her.

"Ahh, Hina, I'm sorry! I completely forgot to tell you that I'm not actually going to have lunch with you guys. See, Raidou-san's taking me to lunch today. I'm sorry Hina, you made all that food for nothing." Lina apologized.

"Oh, it's alright, nee-chan." Lina smiled guiltily. Hinata was always so nice, it was so endearing.

"Hi, Lina-san." Raidou had finally walked up to the group, smiling tentatively. He'd seen Hinata take out another lunch box, only to put it back in the cloth bag she carried it in.

"Hey, Raidou-san! You guys know Raidou-san right?"

"Namiashi Raidou. Friend of Shiranui Genma, our proctor for the final exams in the first chuunin exams we ever took. Raidou is also a tokubetsu jounin and part of the Hokage guard." Shino stated in a matter of fact tone.

"Jeez, Shino. How do you know all of that?" Kiba asked.

"How? It's simple. I pay attention to my surroundings." Kiba stuck out his tongue at Shino but otherwise ignored him. Lina laughed embarrassedly, and looked over at Raidou, who was blushing slightly. Deciding it was time to leave, Lina got up.

"Shall we go?"

Raidou nodded, and they walked out of the training grounds. They headed to a small restaurant. As Lina looked around, she smiled as she saw civilians sitting with their families. Looking back at Raidou, she clasped her hands together and placed her chin on top of them.

"So, how are you?" Raidou looked back at her and smiled so sweetly that Lina's insides pretty much melted.

"I'm good. How are your injuries, Lina-san? I don't see any casts or anything…" He trailed off as he examined her more carefully, and Lina shook her head. "I'm pretty much all better now. And, I don't know if this is too soon to say this, considering we don't know each other THAT well, but I'd really like it if you just called me Lina. Leave out the '-san'. What do you think?"

Raidou stared at her for a moment before blushing slightly and nodding. "Of course, Lina-sa- I mean Lina. In that case, you should call me Raidou." Lina grinned back and nodded. "Deal, Raidou. So, what's up? What do you do in the little spare time you have? I'm sure you can't have a lot, considering you're part of the Hokage guard."

"Mm, other than training, there really isn't much else I do." Lina leaned further into Raidou, intrigued. "Really? Nothing? So, like, you don't, I don't know, read or something?" Raidou shook his head. "Not really. I used to, when I was a chuunin and even when I was an early jounin, but now that I'm a tokubetsu jounin, I don't really have time. The Hokage-sama always needs to be protected, and when I'm not doing that, I'm being sent off on missions like the one we were on together." At this, Raidou saw Lina's eyes grow cloudy as she remembered the mission.

"Yeah...that mission was something else, huh? Well, maybe not for you, considering how elite you are, but for me it was pretty intense." Raidou nodded understandingly. "Yeah, it was definitely one of the more action-packed ones, but you did a really good job leading. Oh...speaking of leading…" He wasn't sure how to broach the topic of Lina being tested to be a jounin, so he just spoke his mind. "I'm sorry about not telling you sooner about the whole jounin test thing. I-"

Lina waved her hands at him dismissively. "Oh, don't even worry about it! Kakashi-san told me the same thing, but really! You guys did the right thing not telling me. I mean think about it, if you had, and I had by some odd chance passed, what would be the point if it wasn't my actual work? If I had known, and was just subconsciously acting to pass, then if I ever led a team, I would be putting them in danger every time. So don't worry about it." Raidou smiled, relieved.

"I'm glad you understand. Umm…" He searched for his next words. "So, what _do you _do in your spare time?" Sipping her tea, Lina thought.

"Ummm, well considering I was travelling for ages and ages, I had quite a lot of time to do absolutely nothing." They both chuckled at that. "But as for right now, I love to read. You know I read Icha Icha, but I'll have you know I don't just read romance." Raidou raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Nothing. I'm just still a little surprised that you read porn, despite calling it romance. And yes, it is porn."

"No it's not! Jiraiya-sama is a brilliant romance writer!"

"Yeah right! I've read a couple of pages of those books from Kakashi, and they ARE porn." They laughed as they bickered, forgetting their surroundings. The conversation slowly devolved to 'nu UH!' 'uh HUH!', making their neighbors stare at them like the two idiots they sounded like. Soon, they agreed to disagree, sticking in one final word each before they moved on to other topics. With Raidou now really comfortable with Lina, he asked, "So, why Hana? I mean, why did you henge into Hana that first time." Lina looked at him blankly for a moment before looking down at her food, picking at it slightly. She wasn't sure how comfortable she was about telling him about such a personal part of her, but she trusted him as a comrade, and she'd basically blurted out the reason yesterday anyway, so what was the harm?

"Well, it's like I said yesterday. I'm an average-looking, short girl who is nothing special to look at. If I want something like what I wanted that night we first met," she censored herself considering their surroundings, what with the children eating around them, "then there was no way I'd get it the way I was."

She felt a small lump form in her throat again. She'd always thought it and known it, it was one of the reasons why she hadn't had a boyfriend until Souta, which was at the age of 17, but she had never said it out loud. As a young girl, she hadn't questioned Souta's reasons for liking her, just happy that he did. When she left the village, it had taken her nearly 5 months to figure it out, at which point she'd fallen into an even deeper sense of depression, before Daisuke had suggested using Henge no Jutsu. Seeing as he was a dog, and they did things differently, he hadn't understood her pain well, but he'd been as supportive as any human could possibly be, and he'd found a way for her. Years later, she'd grown used to the routine, almost numbing herself to the pain of knowing she was the way she was. But now that she'd said it to Raidou, she felt all those years of vulnerability come in a wave of emotions, and she thanked the stars that she had been trained in kunoichi skills, one of which was hiding emotions. The kunoichi training for hiding emotions was much harsher than males, as women tended to be much more emotional anyways. Lina kept her eyes on her food, taking in the occasional chopstick-full.

"Lina, you're-" Raidou sighed, trying to find the right words. "You don't need a henge. I don't understand why you think you do. You ARE pretty. No, no, listen to me! You are! Like, take yesterday. You let your hair down, dressed up a bit, and you even had Genma saying it!" At this Lina gave a small smile and rolled her eyes.

"Well no. He said I wasn't ugly."

"Right, but coming from him, with the way he acts towards you? That's basically him saying he think's you're beautiful." Raidou joked back, wanting to keep her smiling, which must have worked well, as she chuckled and shook her head.

"Yeah, right." They talked some more about less intense things before they left the restaurant. As Raidou walked Lina home, he reached for her hand. Surprised, Lina looked down at their joined hands before looking up at him confusedly. She shook his hand off and place both hand behind her back. Raidou felt slightly rejected at that, but didn't pursue the issue.

Oddly, Lina suddenly remembered something she'd been meaning to ask around. "So, umm. I was wondering. I don't know if you would know this, but considering you're a jounin, I thought I'd give you a try. My sensei, when I was a genin. His name was Tamaki. Umm, Ootori Tamaki. Do you know him? I haven't had a chance to meet him in the months since I've been back, and I thought it was about time I did."

Raidou didn't need to think too far, as he'd remembered the man well. They had been on a mission together when…

"I'm sorry, Lina. He died on a mission." Lina stopped in the middle of the street, her face frozen in shock. Raidou looked back at her, worried. "Lina?" She shook herself out of her reverie, and faintly nodded. "Yeah, I'm alright. Umm, wow. That's...wow. I can't believe he's gone. How long ago was this?"

Raidou thought for a moment. "It was around 3 years ago, I think. We were on the same team when he died."

"Oh." They continued walking, both feeling much more somber.

Finally, when they reached her apartment in the mid-afternoon, she turned to say goodbye.

"Thank you so much for lunch, and walking me home." Raidou stepped forward towards her and grabbed both her hands. "Even though it kind of ended off on a bit of a sad note, I had a really nice time talking to you, getting to know you. How about we have a real date one day?" Lina looked up at him, but smiled sadly. She'd guessed this was coming and she'd dreaded having to reject him, but she couldn't let him continue hoping for a chance when there really wasn't much of one.

"I'm sorry Raidou. You're so sweet, so caring. Is it selfish of me to want to have you as a friend and nothing more? I feel like you and I could become such great friends, but if we decided to take things further, we could lose all of that." Raidou looked down at her, and saw that she didn't feel anything towards her. He furrowed his eyebrows and bit his lip before smiling and nodding. "Sure." Lina caught the small gesture, and reached up to pull him down into a hug.

"I'm sorry, Raidou. But, you are the most sweetest, adorable, amazing guy, that I'm glad I can still have you as a friend. I'm sorry, but I don't feel that way towards you though." Raidou leaned his head into hers and hugged her tight.

"That's alright."

"Hey Raidou?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it going to be weird between us?" They both drew back and looked at each other. Raidou shook his head. No matter what, even if he got rejected, he'd never wanted to stop being her friend. Their lunch today had only intensified that desire, as he'd gotten to know a side of her that he suspected not many people knew about. "No. We'll stay the same." Lina smiled and nodded. "Good. Then, I'll see you later, alright?" She turned to open the door, and waved Raidou off before she closed it.

As Lina walked to her room, her smile slowly faded into a frown as she remembered that Tamaki-sensei was dead. Remembering her genin days, she recalled all the times he'd saved her life, all the times he'd consoled her and her teammates Hanaki and Ai when they'd had their boy troubles and she'd butted heads with her parents. She remembered how he'd hugged her after she'd had to tell him her two teammates were dead on a mission that she'd survived. How he'd tried to be so comforting, like an older brother, when Souta had been found dead. It had been him who had told her the search party had finally found the body. While others had tried to shield her from the gruesome sight, he'd just held her in one arm as she saw the team bring in the body, as she screamed and cried, shaking and cursing the shinobi for hurting her beloved Souta. She remembered vaguely all the times he'd tried to coax her into eating, going outside, doing something, after Souta's death had dropped her into such a pit of depression that no one could bring her out.

As she remembered, Lina grabbed her pillow and buried her face in it as she cried. She didn't care that Kurenai was in the apartment, probably listening in. She'd locked her bedroom door to keep Kurenai out, and she was sure the woman wouldn't simply barge into the room uninvited. She cried herself to sleep, thinking about the last link to her genin past. Now, everyone was really gone. Her family had shunned her, Her sensei, teammates, Souta, all dead. She was left with nothing. Again.

-end

Author's Note: I actually wrote this uuuuuber long chapter, but I split it up into chapters 15, 16, and 17, because it seemed a little too long, even for me. But no, I will not be posting all three chapters at the same time. I'm probably going to leave a couple of days in between each upload, as I'm still finishing up chapter 17. So yeah, this is the first installment of the chapter, very angsty, but some resolution with Raidou-Lina love. Also, I put in some more details about Souta's death, so now you know why she is so…..i wouldn't say distant, but she tries to be a peripheral person rather than part of the nucleus of any group, so that she's able to get out if she feels like it's too much. But at the same time, you've (hopefully) seen from previous chapters that she's willing to try to find love again, after so many years of being alone. And she's obviously stumbled on SOMETHING with Kakashi, but she's still holding back. What will happen? You'll have to see in the next chapter! :D

Oh, and just in case you're wondering, that thing I put in about the hangover cure, I have no idea if it works or not. I don't drink, but that is my favorite breakfast when I'm feeling icky. And I've heard that coffee or really greasy foods work well to cure hangovers, so I put the eggs and sausages in :) I personally looooove citrus tea, or any type of fruit tea in general. Yum! (oh and no, I don't drink coffee lol)

_**As always, please comment, complain, anything! I really do love to hear for readers, you guys really do make my day. Please please please. I crave your input, even if it's bad. If you don't approve of something, or you think I did something wrong, tell me! Of course, just telling me won't do, you'll have to actually explain yourself, otherwise I'll never get better! Thank you so much! **_


	16. Chapter 16

**Something I wanted to mention, just cuz it's somewhat relevant to the story: right after the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime, the Pain arc starts. Now, I personally want to develop more of the Lina/Kakashi/rest of the gang's relationships, so I'm stretching the time frame just a bit. Pain invasion won't come for a few chapters.**

As always, please review, comment, write something! I'm dying to know what you guys think. Ja ne! ;)

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. I do, however, own any original ideas or characters (such as Sasaki Lina) that I have created.

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Sasaki Lina is 29. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: **the Pain arc is still going to happen, I'm making Sasuke come back too, but Shinobi Alliance arc is still going to happen, as well as anything that didn't directly involve him in the anime/manga.** I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?) Enjoy!

_**PLEASE REVIEW! COMMENT, ANYTHING! THANKS :D**_

A note about this chapter: I love how this chapter turned out! It was very emotional for me, because I kind of put myself in Lina's shoes when I was writing her lines. But yeah, I hope you like it!

*** PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS CHAPTER IS JUST A CONTINUATION OF THE LAST ONE, MEANING IT IS STILL THE SAME DAY/EVENING***

_**Chapter 16**_

In the middle of the night, with the moon shining fully up in the sky, Lina awoke, having slept thoroughly after her afternoon cry. Looking at the time, she saw that it was nearly 2 in the morning. She didn't feel hungry, but she had a certain need to visit the graveyard. Getting up and making sure to be silent, she crept out of the house and walked out onto the silent streets of Konoha. She walked slowly, her mind numb after the tears and sleep she'd just awoken from.

Kakashi was on his way into his apartment after a long night of drinking and random bathroom sex when he spotted a familiar chakra signature making her way down the street. He poked his head out of the side entrance he'd grown accustomed to using and saw Lina walking about. _'What's she doing out in the middle of the night?'_ He saw that she was heading away from her house, so he decided to follow her. Keeping several metres away, he watched as she walked into the Konoha shinobi graveyards. He watched her walk up to a particular plot of land. Not wanting to disturb her, he didn't bother enhancing his hearing, but the light breeze that ran through carried bits and pieces of her voice to him.

Lina walked up to her clan's plot of land, pausing and bowing before entering. She walked up to the closest tombstone and bowed her head for a moment before she spoke.

"Ojii-san, it's Lina. Remember me? It's been a long time. I'm so sorry to hear you passed away. I just came back to the village a little while ago, and it just recently hit me that I hadn't come visit you yet, and for that I am very sorry. I know, you're probably wondering why I thought of coming today of all days, but to be honest, I don't know. I just wanted to say that I'm so sorry for leaving you, our family, the village, everyone. It was selfish, I know, but at the time it was something I had to do. Even now, I'm sorry I hurt all of you, but I'm not sorry I did it. I hope that you, being in Heaven, were able to see me while I was away. If you did, then you know how sorry I am, and everything that happened to me while I was away. I..I miss you so much." Lina's voice broke after shaking for most of her talking, and she clenched a hand over her heart.

"Ojii-san, there's something else that I want to talk to you about. It's Otou-san, and Okaa-san. They've basically shunned me. It's mostly Okaa-san, but still. I know I was wrong, and I really am sorry, but I don't know what to do to make it up to them anymore. I soiled the Sasaki name, and I became a missing-nin. Even if I wasn't the bad kind, it still doesn't excuse my disloyalty to the village, and I know that. I know...but-but I don't know what to do anymore. And I know you can't help me anymore, being where you are, but I guess I just needed someone to talk to. I'll still do my best to be a good kunoichi, and I'll try my best to get Okaa-san to recognize me again, but I'm so scared she's going to take it out on Katsumi and Kei. They're both so grown up now, jounin and chuunin? I know that I'm still the eldest, but they both have become such great shinobi, and I also know that Okaa-san will want to push the Sasaki heir title onto them, even if I am the oldest. I don't care who gets the title, but I know that they never wanted it before. Maybe it's different now, maybe they do want it. But if they don't it, I'll do my best to make her see that I can be the leader. I-I-I just….I don't want to hurt my family anymore. Ojii-san…I have no one left anymore. Today I found out that Tamaki-sensei died while on a mission. Do you remember him? He was my genin instructor, back when I was with Hanaki and Ai. Now, everyone from my past is truly gone. My family doesn't want me, my teammates are dead, my sensei is dead, my Souta is dead, you're gone, I really have nothing anymore. I'm all alone again…" Lina squeezed her eyes shut, still dry from having cried her eyes out before.

After a moment of stillness, she straightened up and said quietly, "Well, Ojii-san. I guess there's nothing I can do, right? I mean, there are lots of shinobi who are alone, what makes me any different, right? I should get going. I'll come back and visit soon, Ojii-san." She made her way out of the clan's graveyard plot and walked towards the KIA stone, still unaware that she was being watched by Kakashi.

When she arrived at the KIA stone, she looked for the familiar names. Finally finding them, she ran her fingertips across each character, slowing down when it came to Souta. Bowing her head once more, she paid her respects to her teammates, as well as all the other shinobi who had given their lives for the village.

"Hanaki, Ai, Sou, Tamaki-sensei. Hey. It's been a long time, hasn't it? I'm sorry I didn't come visit you sooner, I was away from the village, and then, I guess I didn't have the courage to come. You guys can understand that, right? I mean, how could I face you after so many years. And you, sensei. I didn't even know you were gone until today. I'm so sorry I wasn't there to protect you. I know, of course, I probably couldn't have done anything, being a chuunin and all, but still. I feel responsible. For all of you. Hanaki, Ai, you two died so young, on a mission that turned out to be so deadly just because I was on the team. I feel so guilty for that. And you, Souta. That mission, when you were dragged away by those jounin. And I couldn't do anything. I was so useless. And then when we found you, do you know how much my heart broke? I loved you so much, Sou. So when you were gone, I couldn't take it anymore, so I left Konoha." Lina absentmindedly fiddled with the silver rose necklace that Souta had given her before she continued.

"And then, now I find out that even you, Tamaki-sensei, you're dead too. I, I don't know how to, to tell you how sorry I am. You are all up in Heaven, I'm sure, so you can probably see me right now, but I feel like every day I'm all alone. I have dreams, you know. About all of you. I keep dreaming that you're still here, but then I wake up, and it's like the nightmare is a reality, and you're all gone." Lina paused for a moment, thinking about something she'd done in the early years of her departure from Konoha.

Sitting down, she said, "I wrote a song about you guys, you know. All of you." She began singing lowly, closing her eyes as the wind breezed through the forest surrounding the KIA stone, making the leaves dance in the moonlight. When she was done, she got up, bowed her head once more, and walked away.

Kakashi watched and heard Lina sing a sad, sad song. He'd caught most of what she'd said to the KIA stone even without his hearing enhanced, and his heart squeezed when he heard the pain in her voice. When she'd begun to sing, Kakashi had wanted to go up to her and hug her and tell her she wasn't alone. She had friends, her team, him. Hell, the whole shinobi army of Konoha could be considered her family! But he just watched and trailed after her as she left the area.

Lina was walking out of the forest onto the empty streets of Konoha when she thought she felt someone watching her. Whipping her head around, she scanned the forest behind her, but felt nothing. Shaking her head, she turned back. A few steps later, she spotted Kakashi walking up ahead of her. How she'd missed him, she didn't know, but she walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, what are you doing out so late? It's like 3 in the morning." Kakashi, who had 'happened' to be passing by, turned around and gave her a surprised look.

"Lina-san, hello. I was just having a midnight stroll. You?" Lina shifted her weight between her feet and shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh not much. Hang on, if you're up so late, is THIS why you're always so late for your meetings with your teams?!" She excitedly asked, momentarily forgetting her sadness and thinking she'd discovered his secret. Kakashi laughed and scratched the back of his neck.

"Maa, who's been spreading such terrible lies about me?"

"Lies?! Oh, yeah right! There's no use trying to fool me, it's not like you've never been late with me." Lina playfully shoved him with her shoulder.

Kakashi stuck his hands in his pocket and retorted. "I was not late!"

"Yes you were!" It seemed this was going to be another back and forth issue between the two of them, but they didn't mind, glad to be able to laugh like this. Kakashi looked at Lina, watching the moon shine down on her as she walked with a small smile lingering on her face. He coughed slightly and asked, "So, shall I walk you home?" He watched Lina look up at him with a twinkling smile now and nod. "That would be great. Thanks." He smiled back and nodded. They walked back to her place without speaking much, and briefly said goodbye. When they were left alone again, both Kakashi and Lina were wearing small smiles on their faces, each in a much better mood. Despite Kakashi's sexual escapades just hours before, he was suddenly feeling amazingly refreshed. And as for Lina, she was feeling much calmer after talking to Kakashi.

XXX

Several nights after, the gang was hanging out at the club again when Kakashi overheard something that made him extremely uncomfortable, for no logical reason.

"Hey Raidou, could you pass my drink over?"

"Sure, Lina. Here."

"Thanks."

_'Raidou? Lina? Since when were they on a first name basis?'_ Kakashi frowned slightly before returning his expression to normal. He shouldn't care, Lina and Raidou were friends, it shouldn't matter to him why they were on a first name basis. He watched from the corner of his eye as Lina and Raidou talked, much more comfortable with each other than they had been the last time he'd seen them. Grumpily, he left the group early, completely missing Lina's bewildered and disappointed look as she watched him leave.

Shortly after, Raidou pulled Lina away from the group, making up some excuse that wasn't good enough to fool anyone, but considering everyone was drunk, it worked.

"What was that?"

Lina looked at him and asked, "What was what?" Raidou made a face and nudged her. "That thing with Kakashi. As soon as he got up to leave, you looked like a kicked puppy." Lina blushed and shoved his shoulder. "I did not!"

"Oh my God. Do you...do you like Kakashi?!" Raidou whispered, not wanting to make a scene. He watched Lina blush madly while shaking her head furiously. "No! No way!"

"Oh stop it, you look like a tomato. You know that he's a major player right? Well, not in the same sense as Genma, but he's had his fair share of women, and even those he hasn't been with are in love with him. Are you sure you want to like a guy like him?"

Lina looked at Raidou miserably. "I don't want to like ANYONE. If it were possible, I'd choose being celibate over liking someone any day. Liking people just causes problems for me. But I can't help it! Kakashi's...he's...different. I don't know how I feel right now, but he's just-Oh I don't know!" Raidou nodded, having heard the same line from his other female friends. He was disappointed that he'd lost to the Konoha pervert, but he had a feeling that Lina would be good for him. But he wasn't going to make things easy for them. If she couldn't figure out what she wanted, he wasn't about to tell her.

"Well, good luck." He walked back to the table and sat down, Lina coming up behind him and doing the same.

XXX

The next several days went by uneventfully, with Lina and her team going on simple one-day missions in the smaller towns near Konoha. The days were beginning to become a little too peaceful for Kiba's liking, despite Lina's reminders that peaceful days meant no deaths. Although, Lina herself was starting to feel the strain of boredom. Not to be outdone, Gai had begun to offer to train her in taijutsu, after hearing from Kakashi that he was doing so. While Lina had politely declined for the moment, after hearing his exuberant rants about how glorious and youthful it would be to train with the most youthful of all his female friends, she secretly added him to the list of people she'd like to one day fight, when she got good enough in taijutsu to hold her own, at least. That list included Kakashi (because their training couldn't count as fighting as he was focusing on teaching her), Gai, Lee, and Neji. The latter two were additions she'd added after hearing about them from the rest of the group.

Kakashi and Lina were just finishing up their taijutsu training several weeks later when she got a visit from two people she'd never expect. It was a warm day, as the weather slowly crawled into late spring/early summer. The birds were out, the breeze was refreshing against their sweat-soaked skin, and Lina and Kakashi were resting before getting up to go for lunch. As they prepared to leave, Lina spied a water bottle that looked like her own and reached out to grab it, only to find Kakashi do the same. As their hands met on the bottle, they each look up at each other and straightened up, still holding the bottle. Smiling slightly, Lina used her other hand to swipe away the stray hairs from her eyes and said, "Um, that's my bottle." Kakashi looked down at it before looking back at her. "Uh, no it's not."

"Yeah it is. See, I have 3. And in my hands I have 1, 2...oh." Lina spied the third water bottle hidden underneath the two others in her pack. Looking back at the bottle, she bit her lip and sheepishly laughed before letting go. "Sorry."

"No worries. Shall we go?" She nodded, and they both walked out of the field. They hadn't gone too far, before Lina heard a voice coming from the entrance/exit of the training ground.

"Nee-chan!" Lina looked towards the direction of the voice and saw Kei and Katsumi walking up towards her and Kakashi.

"Kei? Katsumi? What are you guys doing here?" She ran towards her siblings and drew them into a tight hug. Having not seen either of them since the first week of her arriving to the village, she'd missed them terribly, but she'd kept her distance to not anger her parents, so she was thrilled that they had come to find her instead.

"Nee-chan, we missed you so much!" Kei babbled as he hugged his eldest sister once more. Lina smiled up at him and said, "I missed you guys too! But what are you doing here?" Katsumi stepped up and said, "Well, we were hoping we could maybe come by later today to have dinner with you? We could go out if you like." Katsumi glanced over at Kakashi, whom she'd only ever heard rumors about. What was the famous Copy Ninja doing with her sister? Lina followed her sister's glance and noticed Kakashi standing off to the side a little, giving the siblings some room to reunite. Smiling at him, she motioned him over.

"Guys, this is Hatake Kakashi. Do you know who he is?" Kei and Katsumi both nodded. "Of course! The famous Copy Ninja, Sharingan no Kakashi!" Kei exclaimed, practically bouncing up and down at the mere sight of what looked to be his idol. Lina whacked her brother across the head before laughing embarrassedly towards Kakashi. "Kei! Stop it! Sorry, Kakashi-san. My brother seems to be a fan." Kakashi wave his hand in denial, using the other to rub the back of his neck. "Maa, it's fine. Umm, I'll see you around?" He was about to leave when he felt Lina's hand on his wrist. Looking back at her, he heard her say, "No, stay. Guys, Kakashi-san and I were just training, he's helping me with taijutsu." The siblings nodded in realization before Katsumi remembered that they were supposed to meet their parents for lunch at home.

"Ahh! We need to go, Kei! Mom's going know something's up if we're late. But we'll come by later, nee-chan. You live with Yuhi Kurenai, right? I'll find it." Katsumi dragged Kei away as she shouted over her shoulders. Lina waved them off, shaking her head, and she and Kakashi walked away to have lunch. Later in the evening, the siblings knocked on Lina's apartment door, and the four of them, including Kurenai, had a dinner that was filled with laughter and many embarrassing stories about Lina's childhood. Not that she let any of it slide, as she was quick to reply with stories of her own about each of her siblings. By the end of the evening, everyone was in a very good mood, and the dinner ended on a happy note.

XXX

It was a week later, when Tsunade called Lina into her office, citing urgent business. When Lina walked in, she found Genma and Raidou standing in the room with Tsunade and of course Shizune. Thinking it was another mission, Lina relaxed slightly. It wasn't that she wasn't preparing herself for it, more that she trusted those two to have her back. After working with them in that first mission, she'd understood how their teamwork worked. Of course, having Raidou as a constant lunch date was also a great way to get to know him and build up teamwork, so that was a plus.

"Sasaki Lina." Lina turned to face Tsunade, who had now adopted a stern look on her face, as she steepled her hands. Seeing this, Lina stood up straight, wondering what was going on. Her eyes flickered over to Shizune, and when she saw a small smile tugging on the corner of her face, Lina relaxed internally. It couldn't be that bad if Shizune was smiling, right?

"Sasaki Lina. You have completed 13 C and B rank missions in the time you've returned to the village, 27 D rank missions, and 1 A rank mission with S rank secrecy. As such, it is of my opinion that you are more than capable of becoming a jounin." Lina stiffened at these last words, straightening up slightly.

"However, it is part of Konoha's regulation that you must complete the jounin examination before you are promoted. And to do so, you are required to have two jounin who have been such for a minimum of 4 years to recommend you to the exam." Lina bit her lip. She knew several jounin, but she wasn't sure there was anyone who was confident enough in her abilities to recommend her. Raidou? Maybe. Genma? No way. Kakashi? Mmmm, maybe, but not as likely as Raidou. As she thought, Tsunade cleared her throat.

"You have shown yourself to have true leadership qualities. You may or may not be aware of this, but you were being watched and audited throughout the last few missions you were presented with. And now, you have shown yourself to be so adept, that Shiranui Genma and Namiashi Raidou have recommended you to become jounin. You will take the exam in 4 months." Finished, Tsunade leaned back into her seat with a small smirk on her face at Lina's shock. And why not? Genma, GENMA had recommended her! Whirling around, Lina stared at the two shinobi who were standing behind her. With a yell, she jumped at the two shinobi and pulled them into hugs, saying "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Raidou laughed and hugged her back as Genma tried to wiggle out of her surprisingly strong grip. She was no Tsunade, or even Sakura, but still.

"Ahem." Lina finally let got of the two unexpected shinobi and turned back to the Rokudaime Hokage, standing at attention. She had to fight to not let the grin run over her face, but it seemed that she wasn't doing a great job, because Tsunade simply sighed, waved her hands and said, "Oh, go on. Go tell everyone." With a grin, Lina hastily bowed down to the Hokage, shot a grateful look at her two recommenders, and ran off to tell the one person she wanted to tell the most. Kakashi.

As she ran all around the village, trying to find Kakashi, she looked high and low for the mysteriously disappeared man. In the bookstore, the tea shop where they had lunch, his house, he was no where to be seen. Finally, she went to Ichiraku's thinking Naruto might know where he was, and where better to find the boy than in his favorite eatery? Sure enough, Lina managed to decipher between mouthfuls of ramen that Kakashi was currently on some sort of challenge with Gai, and wouldn't be back for an hour or so. Deciding to wait for him, Lina went to his apartment and left a note sticking out of the side crack of his door, asking him to meet her on top of the Hokage Mountain.

She'd found the top of the Hokage Mountain surprisingly soothing, and the trees and flowers that bloomed atop the mountain were beautiful in the late spring/early summer breeze. As Lina sat cross-legged (since she was wearing her training pants), looking out at the village, she was suddenly overcome with a sense of peace and serenity, and an overwhelming need to protect everyone in it. She vaguely remembered the Sandaime saying something about that urge. What did he call it, the Will of...something. A stronger gust of wind blew through the air, and Lina felt the desire to let her hair down to flow with the wind. And so she did, slowly unwinding the bun she'd kept her hair in, until it was fully unravelled and flowing with the wind away from her body. Lina closed her eyes and just felt one with nature, meditating and thinking about everything. She was recommended to become a jounin. A jounin, like Kakashi, and Raidou, and Genma, and Aoba, and Tamaki-sensei, and her parents, and Katsumi, and Kurenai, and so many more. After so many years, she was finally going to make jounin, the highest rank a shinobi could become, save for Hokage, or ANBU. And Lina had no desire whatsoever to become Hokage or ANBU, so this was it.

"Lina-san?" Lina opened her eyes and looked over her shoulder to see Kakashi walking towards her, hands in his pockets as usual. Smiling over to him, she motioned him to sit with her.

"Hey. I heard you had a challenge with Gai. How was it? What kind of challenge was it?" Kakashi sat down, legs stretched out in front of him, trying not to stare at her. Did she know her hair was down? "It was really troublesome. Who could race through the village the fastest, using only one hand. Honestly, I don't understand how he comes up with these things." Lina laughed. "Well? Who won?" She playfully nudged him, and he cracked a smile. "I did." "NO WAY!"

"What? I don't look like I could win?" Kakashi pretended to pout, which Lina could obviously see from the outline of his mask.

"It's not that, it's just, you're so lanky, and he's so….well buff! How on earth did you beat him?" Lina _was_ sort of shocked that Kakashi had beaten Gai, but she'd exaggerated it slightly to poke fun.

"Hey! I'll have you know that underneath this jacket is all muscle."

"Well, duh, considering you're a jounin shinobi, but that's beside the point."

"Oh? And what is the point?"

"The point is….wait hang on...I forgot." Kakashi laughed before nearly being toppled over by Lina as she pushed him a little too hard. "Oww!" "And THAT'S what you get for laughing at me." Lina rolled her eyes as he continued to chuckle, nudging his shoulder a little less harshly. As they sat there together, looking out at the village, Kakashi asked, "So, what's with the note? What's up?" Lina suddenly got very nervous, and she bent her head down to look at her fidgeting fingers.

"Umm, well. There's a couple of things I'd like to tell you. Well, one of them is to tell you, the other is to ask you. But before I do either, I want you to know, there's no pressure. Really, you can say no, I won't be offended or anything. I-I mean, I know you're busy and all and-"

"Lina. What is it?" Kakashi's heart was suddenly beating quickly, as his mind raced through the scenarios. A love confession? Asking him out on a date?

Lina drew in a deep breath, looked out at the village, smiled widely, and said, "I got recommended to take the jounin exams." She waited silently for Kakashi to say something. It seemed like an eternity passed before she heard him say, "Congratulations!" Smiling even wider, she turned her head to look at him, her eyes sparkling with happiness. "Thanks."

Kakashi was shocked at first, seeing as his mind had taken him down the wrong garden path, but in the next moment he was filled with pride. He watched her smile at him and he couldn't help but smile himself. He saw Lina's smile falter for a moment as she turned back to fiddle with her fingers and bite her lip. By now, genius that he was, he'd of course figured out what she wanted to ask him.

"Umm, Kakashi-san. There's something that I'd like to ask you. See, now that I'm a candidate to become jounin, I kind of need some...umm...extra training. So, I was wondering, if, you know, if you have the time, could you train me?" Lina felt like she was biting her lip off with all her nervousness, and she could tell that her face was probably a bright red by now, and her fingers were fidgeting so much that her muscles were getting sore, but she couldn't help it. She couldn't think of a better person to train with than Kakashi, but she also knew that he was busy, being elite and all. So she was surprised to say the least, when she heard this.

"Sure." Lina whipped her head around to look at Kakashi, eyes wide open.

"Wh-what?"

Kakashi smiled at her. "I said sure. I'd be glad to train with you. We'll have to train more than just twice a week though, so you might have to give up a couple of off days." He watched Lina's face transform from shocked to elated.

"Oh my God seriously? Thank you!" Impulsively, Lina reached over and hugged him tight, not realizing what she'd done until she felt him hug her back with a laugh, and even then, she didn't pull back.

"You're welcome. But you know, it's not going to be easy." Lina shook her head into his shoulder, inhaling his scent and smiling. "I wouldn't expect it to be." They sat like that, holding each other for a moment longer than necessary, until both started to pull back slowly. Lina turned back to look out at the village, her face now still tinged with pink, but not as bright as earlier. Kakashi watched her for a moment, before deciding to take the plunge.

"You know, you're hair looks nice down like this." Lina looked at him, confused. "Huh?"

"Your hair." She looked down, and noticed that it was still down her back. "Oh! Uh, thanks. That's sweet." She ran her fingers through her hair lightly, tucking some behind her ears as she smiled lightly. Kakashi reached over to grab her hand before it fully dropped to her side. "It's true." Lina looked back at him, suddenly realizing how close they were to each other. Her heart started pounding as she saw something grow in Kakashi's eyes, something she knew she was feeling herself. She trailed her eyes down to his mask, to where his lips would be, and swallowed hard.

Kakashi watched Lina stare at him, felt the heat roll off of her body, as her eyes travelled down his face to his lips. He watched her swallow before licking her lips, and then, he was leaning into her, and she into him. Closer, closer. They were now centimeters apart, staring at each other. He let his grip on her wrist loosen and travel down the forearm to her elbow, watching her shiver as his thumb caressed her inner arm. His hand travelled up her upper arm onto her shoulder while his other hand remained planted on the ground for support. He saw Lina lean in ever so slightly into the touch, her eyes closing for a brief moment before opening with even stronger emotions than before.

As Lina felt Kakashi's hand move over her arm, gently, softly, making her shiver when he touched a particular soft spot of hers, she felt a warmth grow in her. They were so close now, that she could feel his breath through his mask, and it reminded her of that time near the stream, during the mission with Raidou and Genma. She leaned into Kakashi's hand, closing her eyes momentarily before opening them again to see his own emotions reflected in his eyes. It was now or never. Letting her eyes drift down to his mouth again, Lina leaned in the last couple of centimetres and softly kissed him, sliding her eyelids shut at the feel. She felt Kakashi stiffen for a moment, before he began to respond and kiss back. Slowly, her hands, now free of Kakashi's grip, placed themselves onto his chest, onto his jounin vest. And then it was over, far too soon.

As Kakashi felt Lina pull back, he opened his eye that had drifted shut after their lips made contact, to see hers still shut. With her lips still slightly pouty from the kiss, she looked delectable, hair blowing in the wind, cheeks rosy from both the wind and excitement. He waited for her eyes to open. When they did, he searched them to see any hint of regret or guilt. Finding none, he smiled and kissed her again, more forceful this time.

Lina had opened her eyes and barely gotten rid of the daze in them when she felt Kakashi kiss her again. Letting her eyes close once more, she fell into the kiss, letting it grow stronger with each movement. She wanted to wrap her arms around Kakashi's neck, but given her current position, that wasn't going to be comfortable, so she shifted her weight and turned her body until she was facing him instead of the village. Finally comfortable, she wrapped her arms around him with a moan, before breaking the kiss and burying her face in the crook of his neck.

Kakashi felt Lina bury her face in his shoulder, and instinctively did the same, inhaling her scent. He could feel both her heart and his own beating so quickly and strongly they felt like they were at a rock concert. He shifted his weight slightly, and wrapped his arms around her, effectively pulling her onto his lap, holding onto her as if he'd never let her go. He chuckled when he heard the small squeak she let out when she found herself being moved, but he didn't let go, and she didn't fight him.

They sat there, Lina sitting on Kakashi's closed thighs, her legs flanking his torso, with their arms around each other, for a long time. Finally, Lina drew away, the need to look at the man growing too strong for her. As she pulled away, she placed her hands on his shoulders, and began biting her lip. '_What if he was regretting this? What if he thought it was a mistake? What if…'_ There were so many 'what if's running through her head that when she looked into Kakashi's eyes and saw nothing but happiness, she felt like her heart was going to burst with joy. Letting out a small smile, she darted her eyes away from his face, looking anywhere but at him, and shyly said, "Hi."

Kakashi watched Lina's face grow redder and redder as she fumbled through a 'Hi'. A laugh rumbled in his chest, catching Lina off-guard, as he pulled her towards him into another kiss. This one, while not as strong as the last, was still forceful enough to let her know that he _was,_ in fact, happy that they'd kissed. And to reiterate the fact, when he pulled back again, he smiled and said, "Hi" back. To which Lina promptly ducked her head and buried it in his chest with a groan and a quiet 'shut up'. Kakashi chuckled and held her once more, amazed that she fit so well into his arms.

They sat like that for a few moments before Kakashi drew back. With Lina's hair falling over her face, he couldn't see her expression, so he used one hand to tuck some of it behind her ear and lifted her chin up to face him. Seeing her face burning red and warm to the touch, Kakashi smiled wider than he had in a long time, looking at the girl he had been thinking about for months. To finally be able to hold her, be near her, touch her, kiss her, it was all so surreal. The day had started off like any other, but now he was holding the girl who had plagued him in his dreams. He drew her in once more and planted a soft kiss on her lips, loving that he made her gasp against his mask. He felt Lina's fingers leave his shoulders and moving up to tangle in his hair, massaging his scalp gently. In turn, he allowed his hands to drift both up and down, until one was cupping her neck, tangled in her own mess of hair, while the other supported the small of her back. Kakashi let his mind go free and his hands moved on their own. It wasn't until Lina sharply pulled back and slapped his hands away that he realized he'd grabbed her butt.

"Hey! None of that. Do you want the whole village to see us?" He saw that he'd made Lina's lips quite red and swollen, her hair also a mess from his hands, and he snorted. "You know, I don't really care what the village thinks." He buried his face in Lina's neck, giving it gentle kisses and soft bites through his mask. "Besides, look at the position we're in." Lina pushed him off, laughing, and stood up.

"Uh uh. No way we're doing anything here. Besides, I need to go home, I have things to do." She marched herself off, fixing her hair back into the bun, when she felt two arms around her waist.

"Not so fast. Just where do you think you're going?" Kakashi's voice, low and deep, made Lina shiver, but she turned around and looked up at him. "Home." Ducking out of his arms, Lina walked some more, only to be incapacitated again.

"No."

"Yes."

"No." They went on like this for a while as Lina finally cracked and began laughing, making Kakashi laugh as well.

"Ahh! Stop it!"

"No."

"Yes!"

"No."

"Argh, Kakashi-san!" At this Kakashi pulled her fully towards him and spun her around. "No. No 'Kakashi-san'. It's Kakashi." Lina looked up into his eyes, and smiled. Tilting her head slightly, she nodded and said, "Yeah, ok. But the same goes for you too." Kakashi smiled down at her and nodded. "Of course, Lina-chan." Lina shoved him away and walked off smiling, only to have Kakashi appear right beside her, hands in his pocket and smirking. They walked like that, not saying much, until they met a crossroads that led to Lina's apartment one way, and Kakashi's apartment the other. Thinking that this was the end of their walk, Lina turned to Kakashi and said, "Well, I guess this is where we part. I'll see at the club later?" Kakashi shook his head, amused.

"What do you mean, this is where we part? You're coming home with me."

"What? No I'm not."

"Yes you are." Kakashi flung and arm around Lina's shoulders and steered her in the direction of his apartment. Lina spun out from under his arm and laughed.

"Ha! Now if you'll excuse me, I really need to go. I actually have stuff to do." She walked away, only to find Kakashi trailing her, tugging gently at her sleeve like a child.

"Oh? And what exactly do you need to do?"

"For your information, I need to help Kurenai with some decorating for the baby. She's going to be sleeping with Kurenai, and we've already child-proofed the apartment, so now it's all about decorating and making everything pink and purple." Lina looked back at Kakashi, laughing when she found that he actually had the decency to look embarrassed.

"Oh...right."

"Walk me home?" Lina clasped her hands behind her back, half-turning towards Kakashi. He smiled and nodded. It took most of both of their self control to keep their hands off each other, but they managed to do it somehow. Neither particularly wanted the entire village to be abuzz with their new 'thing', whatever it was. Soon, they arrived at Lina's apartment. She turned to Kakashi and smiled up at him.

"This is it. Thanks for the walk. Oh, about training, when do you want to train aside from Mondays and Thursdays?" Kakashi thought for a moment. Tuesdays and Fridays were out, but he could always tell Yamato that he wanted one day of the weekend.

"Wednesdays and Saturdays? Or Sundays, it doesn't really matter. I train with Yamato on the weekends, but I'll just tell him to give me one day."

"Sounds good. So from now on, it's Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and I think Saturdays would be good." Lina concluded, and Kakashi nodded in agreement. With nothing else to say, both adults stood in front of Lina's apartment door awkwardly before Kakashi reached up to brush his hand on her face. Lina closed her eyes to the touch, smiling slightly and reached up, cupping his hand with her own. Kakashi smiled down at her and said lowly, "I'll see you later?"

Lina opened her eyes and smiled softly up at him. "Yeah." Kakashi swallowed hard, using the last of his self control to not hold her right then and there. Nodding, he slowly withdrew his hand, performed the seals, and 'poofed' away. Lina opened the apartment door and greeted Kurenai.

"Hey, Kurenai, I'm back." Kurenai looked up when she heard Lina's voice. Something was very different about her today. She seemed more open, happier. Quirking an eyebrow, Kurenai said, "Hey. Come sit with me for a second." Lina sat down with her on the sofa, waiting expectantly. The last time Kurenai had used that tone with her, she'd been peppered with questions regarding Kakashi and her relationship. Although she'd managed to divert most of the questions, it seemed that Kurenai hadn't given up. Of course, Lina wasn't planning on telling her that they'd just made out on top of the Hokage Mountain, but somehow she had a feeling that she was nowhere close to being able to lie to Yuhi Kurenai.

"So?" Kurenai asked, waiting, but Lina played dumb.

"What?"

"What's got you all smiley?" Kurenai leaned back with a smirk. Lina blushed as she tried to compose her face into a neutral look, but that only made Kurenai smirk wider.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm always smiley, it's one of my many quirks my peppiness." Lina got up and walked into the kitchen, groaning inwardly when she felt Kurenai get up and follow her.

"Oh, you ARE always happy, but it seems like something particularly good happened today. Did something happen?" Lina racked her mind for something to say, and then she remembered why she'd been so happy in the first place, before the whole Kakashi incident. Smiling widely, she turned around to face Kurenai and said, "I've been recommended to become a candidate to take the jounin exams. I'll be taking the test in 4 months." Kurenai gasped before throwing her arms around the smaller woman, laughing.

"Congratulations! Oh, that is so great!" Lina grinned and hugged the pregnant woman back. "Thanks!" After a moment, Kurenai pulled back and looked at Lina.

"There's something else. What is it?" Lina widened her eyes momentarily before darting them away. "Lina…" Kurenai said warningly as she watched Lina bite her lip. "Lina!" Lina jolted at the sudden increase of volume, but shook her head.

"It's nothing." "It's NOT nothing! Tell me. Do you have any idea how boring it is to stay at home all day? I _need_ this." Kurenai pleaded, poking and prodding at Lina, but she didn't budge. Grinning and blushing madly, Lina got up and shook her head. "It's nothing. Really." Before Kurenai could get another word in, Lina had disappeared into Kurenai's bedroom to help with the decorating. Sighing, Kurenai walked into her room, determined to get _something_out of the girl.

-end

**The song that Lina sings, I used Digital Daggers' Still Here as inspiration. It's a dark-ish song, but I love it so much! Google or Youtube it, really really sad, and it fits so perfectly.

**Author's Note**: Here is the second installment of the previous chapter that I'd split up! What did you think? That whole graveyard scene in the beginning really tore up my heart. I've never had a relative die, well ok my grandfather did when I was a baby, but that doesn't count because we were never close. But what I'm trying to say is, I really had to dig deep inside, and I ended up having to think about what I would do, how I would feel if everyone around me died, and I thought it was all my fault. And then I just started writing, and it kind of all came out like that. I hope it was alright, I really hope you got to understand a bit of her emotions better, and her thoughts.

Also, in terms of Raidou talking to Lina in the club, I know it seems a little OOC of him given how I've portrayed him up until now, but you have to remember that they've been hanging out, spending time together for a little while now. He's gotten used to being near her, and he considers her a friend. So, this is how I wanted to portray his actual personality, without all the bumbling, shy guy act (even though it's not an act, but you know what I mean).

And finally, the main event! The candidacy! LOL What do you think? Ooh and more importantly, how was the Hokage Mountain scene? I've been waiting to do that scene for so long I was getting jitters while writing it XD I loved that last bit of playfulness between Kakashi and Lina, two of the six perverts of Konoha (the other four being: Jiraiya, Genma, Naruto, and Konohamaru haha).

_**As always, please comment, complain, anything! I really do love to hear for readers, you guys make me smile so much I honestly feel like my face is going to split in two, with my smile being the line that breaks it in half XD **_


	17. Chapter 17

**Something I wanted to mention, just cuz it's somewhat relevant to the story: right after the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime, the Pain arc starts. Now, I personally want to develop more of the Lina/Kakashi/rest of the gang's relationships, so I'm stretching the time frame just a bit. Pain invasion won't come for a few chapters.**

As always, please review, comment, write something! I'm dying to know what you guys think. Ja ne! ;)

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. I do, however, own any original ideas or characters (such as Sasaki Lina) that I have created.

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Sasaki Lina is 29. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: **the Pain arc is still going to happen, I'm making Sasuke come back too, but Shinobi Alliance arc is still going to happen, as well as anything that didn't directly involve him in the anime/manga.** I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?)

_**PLEASE REVIEW! COMMENT, ANYTHING! THANKS :D**_

_*****PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS A LEMON FOR MOST OF IT. If you are not comfortable with that...well I don't know why you're reading this story when it's clearly labelled M. Enjoy!*****_

_**Chapter 17**_

"Ahhhh." Lina sighed as she plopped onto her bed after spending the rest of the day helping Kurenai move and decorate the baby's area. She felt exhausted, but not from the work. No, she was tired from all the tormenting she was put through as Kurenai tried to employ every form of interrogation at her disposal, short of torture, to get information. It seemed like the more Lina denied it, the more Kurenai wanted to know, despite Lina's insistence that nothing else was going on.

As she finally relaxed on her bed, Lina thought back to the events of the day, smiling. First, she'd become a candidate for the jounin exams, something she'd been waiting for all her life. And then right after, she'd finally kissed Kakashi. As she traced her lips with her fingertips, she could still feel the fabric of his mask, behind which were his lips. Oh, how she wanted to feel him without any barriers. As she breathed in deeply, Lina could almost imagine his scent, all male, and she could feel his strong arms hold onto her, binding her to him. And just like that, Lina was up. And very hot and bothered. Looking at the time, she saw that it was late, but not obscenely so; almost midnight. Lina opened her door, listening to hear if Kurenai was still up. Heightening her hearing, Lina heard Kurenai's soft levelled breaths as she listened from outside her door. Stealing silently out of the apartment, Lina sped through the village of Konoha, using the rooftops to avoid any late night walkers.

She finally made it to his apartment. Remembering where it was had been a bit of a challenge, considering she'd only been there once, but she'd found it eventually. Walking up the side of the building to his floor, Lina soundlessly made her way to his door. Here, she stopped. Should she knock? Just go in? Go in from the window in his room? Lina didn't want to risk surprising him, knowing how unpredictable shinobi could be when awoken from their sleep. But at the same time, knocking seemed a little anti-climactic. Finally deciding to throw caution to the wind for once in her life, Lina made her way to the window in his room, and peered in. There, on the bed, laying motionless, was Kakashi, the man she'd been wanting, no _needing_ for the last few months. Her blood starting rushing through her body as she carefully opened the window and slipped in. She crept closer to the bed, her entire body tense with anticipation, until she was standing beside him, looking down. His face, so peaceful, was covered with his blanket, so she still couldn't see his face, and all of the sudden she was overcome with an urge to touch him, kiss him, anything to feel his skin on hers. Slowly, she reached down and placed her hand on his face, caressing it softly, scared that she would awake him. Moving up, she allowed her hand to travel up to his hair, gently petting and enfolding them into it. Hard and coarse on the outer layers, but soft inside, just like dog's or wolf's. Lina smiled as she touched his hair, revelling in the textures. Seeing that he was still asleep, Lina couldn't bear it any longer, and lightly pressed her lips to his forehead, closing her eyes as her lips were met with warm skin.

"You know, you really shouldn't break into someone's apartment. Especially not a jounin's." Lina opened her eyes and jumped back with a gasp when she heard Kakashi's voice come out from under her. He deftly grabbed her hand and pulled her to him until she was sitting on his lap, perpendicular to him, as he sat up. Lina now saw that a mask was covering his face in spite of the cover his blanket gave him. Blushing like crazy, Lina stared down at her lap, embarrassed and slightly guilty. Kakashi watched her as she fidgeted in his lap. Since her hair was back to being in a low bun, he could clearly see her bright red face and teeth nibbling at her bottom lip as her eyebrows furrowed. He waited for her to say something, and after a moment she attempted to explain her actions.

"I'm sor-sorry. I-I just, I...well. Ihadtoseeyou." Lina said in one breath, shutting her eyes tight. _'God, I really have become Hinata around him. How is it that he can make me act like this without even _**doing**_ anything?!' _She bowed her head lower and was about to get up when she felt Kakashi shift and place his face into the crook of her neck. Turning her head slightly, she was just in time to catch his next words.

"I'm glad you did. I needed to see you too." Truth be told, he'd been itching to do what she'd done, but he'd held back, knowing Kurenai would be there. As he nuzzled into her, he felt Lina relax and turn slightly while wrapping her arms around him and nestling her face in his neck. They stayed like that for a moment, just soaking in each other's presence, before they pulled back to look at each other. As Lina's eyes travelled from his open eye down to his masked mouth, she found herself leaning in closer. Seeing him do the same, Lina finally let her eyes close as she finally reached his mouth. With a sigh, she pushed into him, gripping the back of the white tank top undershirt he was wearing.

Kakashi felt Lina push her mouth against his, and he tightened his hold on her. As they kissed, he felt Lina get up while not letting go of his mouth, dragging him along with her, and then cross one of her legs over his two on the bed until she was sitting with her calves folded under her on either side of him, and her arms were now resting on his shoulders. He felt one arm reach down to grab his shirt in a tight grip as the other hand reached up into his hair, cupping the back of his head tightly as she pushed herself up on her knees so that she was now taller than him, with his head tilted up in the kiss. When they finally broke the kiss, Kakashi could see, even in the moonlight, that Lina wanted him as much as he wanted her. Reaching up to cup her face in his hands, he brought it down towards his, placing their foreheads together.

"I want you." He felt Lina's hands travel down to rest on his chest, and then he felt her nod against his forehead. Smiling, he said, "Let your hair down." Lina pulled back for a moment, taken aback, before she said, "Take off your mask." They looked at each other for a moment before they each moved towards each other. Lina's fingers slid gently under his mask, making him groan at the skin-to-skin contact, as Kakashi's hands worked to undo her bun. She slowly tugged the mask down, revealing bits and pieces of Kakashi's face until it was completely off his face and down on his neck, exposing a straight, sharp nose, and a beautifully perfect mouth, followed by a strong jaw. Meanwhile, Kakashi worked to undo her hair, and once it was done, he watched her shake her head slightly to loosen up the black waves. _'Beautiful.'_ They both thought. Without waiting another second, Kakashi dove forward, scrambling onto his knees as he placed Lina down on the bed, kissing her from above.

Lina fell backwards onto the bed with a squeak when Kakashi lunged forwards at her, but she soon forgot about it when she felt his lips on hers. His lips. No mask, nothing hindering them from each other. She moaned into his mouth, pulling his chest down towards her. She felt Kakashi trace her lips with his tongue, as if he were waiting for her to open up for him. Obligingly, she parted her lips, and groaned even louder when she felt his tongue move past her lips, her teeth, and into her mouth. Not to be outdone, she pushed her own tongue into Kakashi's mouth, feeling him, tasting him. They briefly played a tongue war, but Lina let him win, too content with feeling him so close to her. They stopped briefly to catch their breaths, but resumed just as quickly and vigorously, as if a fire had been lit within them, making them dizzy with need.

Kakashi's hands drifted down to Lina's waist, crawling up her shirt as he moved to kiss her jaw and neck. One hand wound around to her back as the other rose to cup her bra-covered breast. At the same time, he felt Lina's hands dive under his undershirt, exploring his body with her delicate fingers. As they touched and groped and clung to each other, their breathing becoming more ragged as the moments passed by, their actions become more erratic and needy. Finally, Lina tugged Kakashi's shirt up over his head, flinging it away before running her fingertips over his chest, staring at the toned muscles that were moving as he breathed. Kakashi took no time in relieving Lina of her own shirt, staring down at her breasts hungrily. She pulled him down, and he began kissing her neck, shoulders, décolleté, and licking the valley between her breasts with such fervor that she arched her back into him, wanting more as she ran her hands down his spine, making him shiver despite their heat together.

Popping one breast out of its cup, Kakashi gently placed it into his mouth, licking it and teasing the nipple as he felt Lina begin to writhe under him. Using one hand, he popped the other breast out, playing with the areola before rubbing his thumb gently on the pebble. Letting his other hand roam down, he reached down to grab her buttocks sharply, making her jerk upwards into him and moan loudly.

"Oh, Kakashi! Ngh!" Kakashi smirked into her breast, and finally relieved her of her bra, a lacy white and pink front closure one, and dropped it off the side of the bed. Not wanting to be the only one, Lina rolled herself up on top of Kakashi and began kissing him intensely. Nibbling on his neck, collar bone, and placing soft kisses and licks down his sternum, Lina rolled her hips into Kakashi's, feeling him grow hard under her. But Kakashi wasn't one to let go of control so easily, and so he rolled her back under him, rubbing and creating friction between their groins as he nibbled on her earlobe. Making his way down to her breasts again, he licked the underside of one of her breasts, pinching the other one's nub, teasing until Lina was literally moaning and wiggling in sweet pleasured torture under him. Moving slightly upwards, Kakashi bit down lightly on her nipple, lightly sucking and swirling his tongue around it as he continued to torment her other breast. The moans increased in volume, and Lina began to shake, clawing at his back with her eyes shut tight as her mouth let out sounds that made him harder just listening to them. As he switched breasts, he felt Lina's whole body jolt upwards at the sudden shift, but he didn't stop his ministrations.

Finally giving Lina some rest, he let go of her breasts, his arms looping back around her body to cup her lower torso as he travelled lower onto her body, down her stomach, kissing his way down until he reached her pant waistline. Seeing as she'd worn stretchy track-like pants, Kakashi tugged the band line down with both hands, slowly kissing his way down her hips.

Lina felt Kakashi begin to tug down her pants, and in her daze she lifted her hips to help him. Slowly, she felt his lips creep down her hips until they were nearly all the way down. But before Kakashi could fully reveal her panties, Lina grabbed his face in both her hands and pulled him up to her lips and kissed him. While distracting him, Lina turned the both of them once more until she was on top. The kiss complete, Lina softly whispered into Kakashi's mouth, "You first." while she slipped her hands on top of his pants, cupping him and squeezing tightly, smiling when he bucked upwards and brought his lips to hers once more.

Kakashi arched his back and grabbed Lina's face back down to his own to seal them in a searing hot kiss, a gasp coming out of his mouth when he felt her hands tighten around him. He watched as Lina kissed her way back down to his stomach, licking each individual six pack lovingly before moving on to his trousers. Undoing the knot of his track pants, Lina mirrored Kakashi's previous actions on her and slowly pulled own his pants, leaving his boxers intact. She gently kissed the top of his boxers, nibbling lightly as she felt him harden even more. As she played with him over the fabric using her tongue, Lina smiled when she heard him groan once more and buck upwards when she hit a sweet spot.

"Stop teasing me…" Lina looked up at him, smiling, loving that she was finally doing this, making him feel like this. She released him from the confines of his boxers, not at all surprised that he was above average. She licked her lips unconsciously and began to kiss her way down his length, before she took him in her mouth.

Kakashi let out a loud groan when he felt her take him in. Bucking wildly in her mouth, he felt Lina's tongue swirl around the tip of his length before she moved down, taking more of him, and then back up, and then down again. Up, down, up down, what Lina couldn't take into her mouth, he felt her appease with her hands, stroking softly but squeezed tight. He grabbed her head with both hands and bucked once more, only to be restrained by her hands on his hips and then waving his hands away from her head. Kakashi looked down to watch her, and he couldn't help but growl in satisfaction as he watched the girl he'd been dreaming about service him. He'd dreamt about her, jerked off to thoughts of her, in the beginning weeks of their acquaintanceship, but he'd calmed down eventually. Now, all those pent up emotions were rushing out as he felt her for the first time.

Lina felt Kakashi begin throbbing in her mouth, and his voice was starting to grow stronger and more needy. Moving faster, Lina decided to employ one of her secret tricks that always left her bed friends happy. Reaching down to grab his scrotum, Lina moved up to the tip of his length and lightly but firmly dug her tongue into the slit, while sucking him and squeezing him with her hands. The effect was instantaneous, as Kakashi cried out and jerked into her mouth, releasing himself. She continued to bob her head up and down, prolonging the effects of the orgasm as much as possible. When she finally felt him soften, she let go, swallowing and wiping her mouth on the back of her hand. She found that he tasted salty, and almost sweet, but hardly bitter. It was an odd taste, but at the same time it fit him well. Raising herself on her hands, she looked up towards Kakashi as he slowly regained his breath. But it didn't take long for him to regain his strength back as he pulled her down on the bed and reversed their positions. Kakashi kissed her emphatically, not caring that he was tasting himself, before whispering, "Damn it, woman. What have you done to me? Where did you learn to do that?" He'd only had the pleasure to experience that particular technique a handful of times, and it surprised him to no end that Lina knew how to do it.

Lina giggled into Kakashi's mouth, whispering, "Years of practice." Kakashi ground his hips into Lina's, making her head tilt backwards as her mouth fell open into an 'o' shape. He kissed her once more, softly, before he said smirking, "And now it's my turn to show you what I've learned in _my_ years of practice." Hearing his voice speaking sexily in her ear as he ran his hands up and down her spine to her head and base of her spine, Lina shut her eyes tight, holding him close. Kakashi lifted her up slightly to move her hair to one side without hurting her, and began kissing her neck, occasionally biting down softly. Smiling to herself, Lina brought her hands up to Kakashi's head and lovingly caressed it, stretching her neck to give him room. She felt Kakashi moved down from her neck to her chest, kissing and leaving love marks around her breasts and down her stomach before finally reaching the edge of her white and pink lace cheeky that matched her bra.

Gently spreading her legs apart, Kakashi had to stop and compose himself as he saw she was already damp. With what she'd done to him, he didn't want to mess this up, and so he softly, gently ran his index finger down her slit, sending a jolt through Lina that made her jerk. Holding her still, he continued to stroke her as he watched her throw her head back and wiggle about, beautiful delicious sounds coming out of her mouth. But almost as soon as they'd come out, Lina clamped her hand over her mouth, trying to silence them, worried that she was being too loud. Noticing this, Kakashi immediately stopped and brought himself up to her face again, shaking his head.

"Don't. I want to hear you." Lina looked back at him for a moment before she nodded and uncovered her mouth. Smiling down at her, Kakashi bent down and kissed her softly as he brought his hands back to where they were before, and began again. He felt Lina jerk into his hand as she moaned into the kiss and clamped her arms down on him as if she'd never let go, creating small lines of superficial scratches with her fingers as she clawed at his back. Kakashi began rubbing her through the cloth of her panties with more than one finger, the cloth now so wet that he could feel his fingers slipping. Finally, he moved aside the cloth covering her slit, traced the outline of its lips, and swirled one finger into her.

Lina let out a surprised cry, jerking upwards as she felt Kakashi put his finger into her (finally!). She could feel the heat pooling in her, the familiar butterfly feeling in her stomach, and her body tense with anticipation yet writhing with the feeling. Feeling him put a second finger in and scissoring her, Lina cried out once more, now grabbing onto the bed sheets underneath her as Kakashi nibbled at her earlobe. After some more teasing, she suddenly felt him disappear altogether, from her earlobe as well as from her slit. She was about to raise herself up to find him when she suddenly felt a wet muscle running itself along the outlines of her, and she relaxed, preparing herself.

Kakashi ran his tongue around her, loving how she smelled, tasted, everything. While her mouth had tasted citrus-y and sweet, her other mouth tasted, like Lina. It was slightly tart, slightly sour, but he couldn't have pictured her tasting any differently. He pulled down her panties the rest of the way, dropping them off the bed somewhere as he continued licking and digging into her slit. He could soon feel Lina clamping down on his tongue, so he craned up to lick her clitoris, swirling his tongue around the small bundle of nerves, teasing it, sucking it, abusing it, until Lina let out a sharp cry, and lurched forwards before falling back again. Helping her extend the orgasm, he didn't stop his ministration, continuing to lick her small bud as it stood erect and swollen, juices flowing out beneath it. Slowly, he felt Lina begin to tense again as he reverted back to her slit, and he placed three fingers to her mouth, tapping at it to indicate he wanted her to suck them. She took them into her mouth, running her tongue over each digit, coating the callused tips with her saliva as she felt Kakashi begin thrusting in her with his tongue again. As she once again began to feel the familiar coil in her stomach, Kakashi took back his fingers and inserted one into her slowly just as she was starting to feel the second orgasm coming. With a cry Lina launched into her second orgasm, gripping the bed sheets tightly as she felt Kakashi suck on her clitoris while driving his finger into her harshly, grabbing her ass with his other hand. The second one was much harsher than the first, as Kakashi only increased his movements when he felt her close around him. In fact, he didn't stop his movements at all when she'd finished, simply driving in a second finger, scissoring the two deeply in her, causing her to cry out again from the summation of the reactions. By the time Kakashi had placed the last finger in, Lina had been worked into a frenzy, orgasm after orgasm.

When he finally allowed her a break, he watched her lovingly, taking in her naked form, her legs still slightly open, her breasts bobbing up and down with her ragged breath, her hair splayed out on the foot of the bed with some wisps stuck to her face from the sweat, and her lips slightly parted as she huffed.

"That was…wow." She'd had good sex before, but she'd never had a multiple orgasm like _that_ before. Lina peered up at Kakashi through her lashes, gulping in air as she watched Kakashi grin down at her. Sluggishly, she pulled him down to her and kissed his cheek softly. He returned the gesture before heading to her mouth. They kissed languidly, enjoying the high. After the kiss finished, Lina pulled Kakashi down to her, holding him and running her fingers down his back soothingly before whispering breathily, "But we're not done yet, right?" Kakashi let out a rumble in his chest as he shook his head into her shoulder, kissing it softly. "Not yet." Lina smiled and turned her head towards Kakashi's, burying her nose in his hair. "Mm, good."

After several moments of peace, Lina felt something grow and nudge her lower thigh. Using her hand to tilt Kakashi's face up to meet hers, she smiled down at him and kissed him softly. "Looks like _you're_ ready." Kakashi chuckled and kissed her back. "Mmm." Lina laughed and began kissing his neck, licking and sucking on bruises she'd made previously. After a few more moments of necking, Lina smiled when she felt Kakashi now fully hard and pressing deeply into her stomach. They looked at each other for a moment, before they reached for each other to crash into a bruising kiss, suddenly needing to have each other now. Lina felt Kakashi move himself until he was placed at her entrance, and they broke the kiss. Looking down at her, Kakashi asked, "Ready?" Lina simply looked at him, eyes twinkling. "I've been ready." He then asked, "Condom?" Lina shook her head. "I've got a jutsu for that." Kakashi nodded tersely and pushed into her with a low growl. Immediately, Lina reached up to grab his shoulders as she gasped at his size in her. It was perfect. It was like they were meant to be, and they could both feel it. Everything was heightened, and there was no discomfort for either of them. Lina slowly began rolling her hips, getting a feel for the sensation of having Kakashi _in_ her. As she looked up into Kakashi's eyes, and he down into hers, they both saw love, pure and sweet, glowing in the other's. Bending down to meet her lips, Kakashi experimentally pulled out before thrusting into her. An appreciative moan came from her mouth, swallowed by the kiss, and Kakashi began to form a rhythm. Slow and steady at first, before he picked up the pace. He moved down to suck on a breast, playing with the other one in his other hand, making Lina moan louder. He felt Lina cross her legs behind his back, and he increased the speed of all his movements. Suddenly, he heard Lina's moans shift to something much stronger, and he realized he'd found her special spot. Shifting to aim for that spot every time, he felt her tremble and shake under him as he hit her ultimate pleasure spot. He felt himself begin to clench up, knowing that he was about to come any second now. Releasing Lina's breast from his mouth with a pop, he groaned out, "Lina, you're so beautiful.", making her drag his face up to kiss him harshly. Releasing from the kiss, he bit down on Lina's shoulder as he released into her with a grunt. He tried not to stop his thrusting, but after he had completed for the second time tonight, he had to stop to catch his breath. After a few seconds, he resumed, not wanting to leave Lina high and dry, reaching down to pinch and rub at her clitoris while hitting the target every time. He found that he didn't need to do much, because she soon came as well, her entire body trembling, and she clung to him for dear life. Finally complete, they both relaxed, Kakashi laying on top of her for a moment before he moved away, both of them groaning as he pulled out of her.

Seeing as they were still facing the foot of the bed, with their feet stretching towards the pillows, Kakashi slowly gathered Lina into his arms and turned her over to the other end, wrapping a blanket over the two of them. But it seemed that it wasn't necessary, because after a few moments Lina got back up and began putting on her clothes. Kakashi sat up to watch her, confused. "What are you doing?" Lina looked back at him blankly. "I'm going home to sleep. I'm exhausted." She smirked as she said it, but Kakashi was still confused.

"Why are you going home?"

Lina just stared back at him. "Because the sex is over…?"

"Right, but I was expecting you to stay, sleep over."

"Oh. Umm...why? Do you want to go again or something?" Lina continued putting on her clothes, irritating Kakashi. _ 'What, did she think this was a one-time thing or something?'_

"Well, no, but I thought it would be nice. It's what people do you know, when they're together. They have sex, sleep together, wake up together, that kind of thing." He said bluntly, now slightly disgruntled. Lina widened her eyes, stopping her movements, now in her bra and panties and holding her shirt.

"Oh." Slowly, she put down her shirt, and crawled back into bed, turning her back to Kakashi and laying on her side stiffly. Surprised, Kakashi reached over to her, placing a hand on her waist.

"Hey, is everything alright?" Lina nodded but bit her lip, worried. Kakashi felt her difference from moments earlier, so he raised himself up to have a look at her. Seeing her frown, he rolled her over to look at him.

"What's wrong?" Lina shook her head, her face turning pink. She looked away from Kakashi and shyly said, "It's just...I've never done this before." Kakashi looked at her in confusion.

"Well, for a virgin you're really good." he joked. Lina smiled and lightly shoved his shoulder as she giggled. "Not _that_!" Kakashi laughed, brushing some stray hairs out of her face. "Then what?"

Lina bit her lip once more. "I've never...slept with someone. I mean, whenever I've had sex, it's always been, you know, just sex." Kakashi was shocked. "Even with your first time?" Lina looked up at him and nodded.

"Considering my first time was with a random stranger I met at a bar, yeah. And I never really had a relationship or anything since I was 17, so it kind of makes sense, right?" Kakashi nodded slowly, finally understanding. Looking down at her, Kakashi smiled. "Well, you're sleeping with me tonight, so get comfortable." Lina turned pink again and nodded as she darted her eyes away from him. Kakashi chuckled and bent down to kiss her softly on the cheek.

"Good night." he whispered. Lina flushed darker before returning the gesture. "Good night." She turned back to her original position, facing away from Kakashi and pulled her hair to the side so that it wouldn't become entangled when she slept. She felt Kakashi rewrap his arm around her waist, and she smiled, placing her hand on top of his and entwining their fingers. She felt Kakashi kiss her on the shoulder, and tentatively wiggled backwards, closer to him. Kakashi drew her even closer to his chest, feeling her relax beside him. Slowly, they drifted off to sleep.

-end

Author's note: WOOOOOOOOW! Ok that lemon was really really intense. How did I do? I'm extremely new at writing lemons, since the only ones I've written were...that one with Kaede in like chapter 7, and then that lime-ish thing with Kakashi and his dream a little later. I hope I did ok? But man, I had to keep stopping and starting, trying to find words that described what I wanted.

I guess I should explain why I put the lemon in so quickly. The reasoning, other than their insane attraction for each other, and that Hokage Mountain bit of groping in the previous chapter, is pretty simple. They're both adults, who are very familiar with sexual relationships, but this time, they actually feel something for their partners. So, that feeling they have, other than the attraction, draws them even closer together. And also, they're both perverts, Kakashi more overtly so than Lina, but she's still one too XD So, it would make sense that they would be comfortable with having sex immediately, right? I dunno, I think I was able to put that into the story so far, but if I didn't and you were confused, then there's your explanation. :S

Ooh, and how did you feel about that last bit of fluff? I love love LOVE THAT SCENE! It make me smile so wide, soooo cute! Next chapter will be up in a little while.

What do you think, was the story too fast? Should I have not put the lemon in? Was it HORRIBLE? Let me know! Until I post again, Ja ne!

_**As always, please comment, complain, anything! I really do love to hear for readers, you guys make me smile so much I honestly feel like my face is going to split in two, with my smile being the line that breaks it in half XD **_


	18. Chapter 18

**Something I wanted to mention, just cuz it's somewhat relevant to the story: right after the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime, the Pain arc starts. Now, I personally want to develop more of the Lina/Kakashi/rest of the gang's relationships, so I'm stretching the time frame just a bit. Pain invasion won't come for a few chapters.**

As always, please review, comment, write something! I'm dying to know what you guys think. Ja ne! ;)

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. I do, however, own any original ideas or characters (such as Sasaki Lina) that I have created.

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Sasaki Lina is 29. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: **the Pain arc is still going to happen, I'm making Sasuke come back too, but Shinobi Alliance arc is still going to happen, as well as anything that didn't directly involve him in the anime/manga.** I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?)

_**PLEASE REVIEW! COMMENT, ANYTHING! THANKS :D**_

_**Ok, so for this chapter: I wrote this chapter partly as a gift for all of you who've read up until now (the other part is I was dying to write a chapter like this for AGES, and I finally have a valid reason beside my own want). I haven't gotten many individual reviews from separate, but I hope the overall consensus is that the story is good. I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Helli and Anuxamurane, two reviewers who have been with me from the beginning. Thank you both for reading and commenting on each chapter, sending me your thoughts, and giving me advice when I'm stuck. You guys are amazing. I hope you all enjoy! Oh, Kakashi in this chapter may seem a little OOC, I don't know, but I tried to keep him as normal as possible. Even if it is OOC, I hope you can forgive me when you read the mushy/fluffy/puppies-licking-kitties scenes. And now, bring on the fluff/lemons! (Because yes, there is more than one. In fact, there are quite a few citruses!)**_

_**Chapter 18**_

The next morning, Lina slowly awoke and regained consciousness, smiling after a well-rested night. As the fog began to clear in her brain, she felt an arm around her waist and a leg entangled under and between her own. Suddenly becoming very still, she tried to remember why on earth she was sleeping next to someone, who was obviously male, from the feel of the muscles in the arm around her. She slowly tilted her head down to examine the arm, noticing that it was pale white, creamy, like milk, and the fingers on the end of the arm were long and slender, yet masculine. _'They look almost like…'_ She gasped and sat up quickly, turning to see Kakashi lying on his front, face planted into a pillow facing her and his other arm under the pillow, before she covered her mouth and turned away, suddenly remembering everything.

"Mmm..? Wuzz happnin'?" Kakashi slowly stirred awake, having felt his arm move when Lina sat up. As he blinked the sleep out of his eyes, he saw Lina sitting up in nothing but her bra and panties, covers laying forgotten in her lap, with her back facing him. From just her back, he could see that she had a pretty bad case of bedhead, her hair falling on her shoulders haphazardly and some strands lumping up on the top of her head. Smiling, he lifted himself half up on his elbow and placed a kiss on a bare patch of skin near her shoulder, smirking when he felt her shiver. It was only after he'd dragged her back down to lay beside him using his arm over her stomach that he noticed her face, frozen in disbelief.

"What is it?"

Lina sat back up again and bent her head down. Kakashi touched her shoulder, but when she flinched, he backed off. Finally, Lina spoke. "I can't believe we did that." Kakashi was confused, and more than a little hurt. Last night, it was _Lina_ who had come to _him_, _Lina_ who had kissed him _first_,_ Lina_ who had told him _she_ was ready. Now she was saying she couldn't believe they'd done it?

"Do you regret last night?" Lina whipped her head towards him, shocked, but he just stared back at her, clenching his stomach as he waited for her answer. She immediately understood why he was suddenly so serious and she relaxed, shaking her head. "No, no, it's not that. I just…well, I can't believe we did it without even going out on a first date!" She moan, collapsing her face into her hands, embarrassed. Kakashi sat beside her, staring for a moment before he barked out a laugh. Gathering her in his arms, he held her tight against his chest as he laughed, despite her shoving.

"Hey, stop laughing!"

"Well, I'm sorry, but you'll excuse me if I'm happy right now, seeing as I thought for a second there that you were regretting telling me how you feel, and all the stuff we did last night." Lina twisted her head up to look at him, still leaning her back against his chest. Smiling up at him, she shook her head. "Never. Although I kind of regret not holding out until we at least went on a couple of dates first." Kakashi chuckled and carefully laid her back on the bed, crossing one leg over her so that he was now on all fours above her. Smirking, he said, "Maa, that was never going to happen anyway. Do you seriously think I'd be able to keep my hands off of you for that long after what happened on top of the Hokage Mountain?" Lina snorted, saying "You really have no self control, do you?" Kakashi's smirk widened, and he bent down to kiss her cheek, jaw, and nibble at her neck, saying "Nope." Lina giggled before sighing and melting into the bed, her arms and legs winding themselves around Kakashi as continued to kiss her neck and shoulders, running his tongue over last night's bruises.

She felt Kakashi's length, now fully hard, rubbing against her thigh. Suddenly remembering something, she softly whispered in his ear, "Wait here. I'll be back in a second." She pulled back, out of Kakashi's grasp, grateful that she'd put on her undergarments before going to bed. "Where are you going?" Lina looked back at Kakashi, who was now sitting up, the sheets resting dangerously low on his hip, just barely exposing him. Smiling, she gave him the one-finger 'wait' signal and walked out of the room. Walking into the bathroom, she grabbed a tube of half-used toothpaste and used her finger to quickly brush her teeth. Finished, she looked in the mirror and combed her fingers through her hair to undo some tangles and make herself a little more presentable.

Walking back, she paused in the doorway, waiting for Kakashi to notice her. He turned to her and quirked an eyebrow, looking her up and down. "You went out to comb your hair?" Laughing lightly, she padded towards the bed and crawled in, pulling him into a deep kiss. Immediately, he tasted the toothpaste and pulled back, surprised. "You brushed?" Smiling, Lina pulled him back down, rolling him under her with a giggle. She sat down on his hips, rolling her own into him, making his now half-soft length harden once more as Kakashi grunted. Curling her fingers into small fists on his chest, Lina rolled her hips once more, dropping her head forward and shielding the two of them from the sunlight streaming in from the window with her long black hair. She softly moaned as she slowly lowered herself lower and lower onto Kakashi's chest as the strength in her arms decreased, continuing to roll her hips. The extremely erotic sounds coming out of both of them only fueled their need to join once more, and soon Kakashi's hands were lifting Lina's hips up, and pulling down her panties. In the next second, she sank on top of him, both of them moaning deeply. Kakashi arching his back as Lina threw her head back, her hands still firmly planted on his chest. Because she had put him in dry and unprepared, she took a moment to get used to him, panting slightly, before she raised herself up and pushed down again, eliciting another chorus of sounds. Slowly, she began picking up the pace, staring down at Kakashi. His face scrunched up in concentration, mouth slightly open, only drove Lina to go faster.

As Kakashi felt Lina's miniscule weight on top of him, riding him and making erotic noises above him, he decided to become more proactive. Leaning upwards, he lifted his knees to give her some support before shifting into a sitting position. The change caused Lina go cry out, surprised, and he began thrusting into her. It seemed that the shift in the position had allowed him to hit her spot even more perfectly, as each moan that came out of her mouth was laced with ecstasy. Gritting his teeth, Kakashi gave a couple of last thrusts before he emptied himself into her with a growl, Lina following him shortly with a whimper that she muffled in his shoulder. They sat like that, panting and still connected before Lina slowly lifted herself off Kakashi, letting out another whimper at the feeling of him sliding out of her. Laying back down on the bed, Lina felt Kakashi lay down beside her, and she turned to look at him. Her eyes travelling from his wild, unruly, gravity defying hair (which only looked worse after last night's romp and then sleep, by the way), to his beautifully expressive onyx eye, to his perfectly perfect nose, and his delicious mouth that had done so many things to her just last night. She was observing him so intensely that she didn't notice when he turned his head to look at her. She jolted in surprise when she felt his hand on her cheek, only to smile warmly at him when she saw him doing the same to her. Taking his hand in hers, she brought it to her lips and kissed the fingertips tenderly, still smiling slightly.

Kakashi watched Lina kiss his hands, and he felt the overwhelming desire to be with her. Not sexually, although that certainly had it's place. No, this feeling was deeper, in his very core. He needed her to be his. Gathering her in his arms, he brought her to him, kissing her forehead before he tucked her head under his chin. He felt Lina giggle and he looked down. Lina looked up at him, her lips pursed as she tried not to giggle too much, but she had to cover her mouth as another burst of laughter erupted in her. Kakashi began to laugh with her, although he had no idea why.

"What?"

Lina shook her head, and laid it down on his chest. "I was just thinking about last night. Do you always wear a mask to bed?" Kakashi smiled, remembering, before he shook his head. "I felt you outside my apartment, so I put it on." Lina pulled back to look up at him, affronted. "So you weren't really asleep?" Kakashi chuckled and pulled her back to him. "No, I was, well kind of. I was in the process of falling asleep when I felt you outside, so I put on my mask in case you were planning on visiting." He heard Lina mumble a quiet 'oh' into his chest, and he grinned into her hair. They lay like that on their side for a few minutes before Lina stirred. Kakashi simply tightened his grip around her, restricting her movements, making her squirm even more. With a whine, Kakashi kept Lina against his chest, smiling as he felt her wiggle about.

"Kakashiiii~. I need a shower. I'm all sticky and gross." Lina whined up at him, still struggling in his arms. Finally, he let go of her, and she began fishing for her underwear off the side of the bed while trying to keep her butt covered. Laughing silently, Kakashi devilishly crawled towards her on the bed and planted a kiss right on her lower back, directly above her half-uncovered butt cheek as he snaked his arms around her. With a squeal, Lina rolled back to him, smacking him wildly as he raised his arms to defend himself, still laughing.

"Stop that!" "Ok ok!" She finally stopped hitting him, her face still slightly pink from her having been hanging upside down looking for her panties, and her hair splayed out under her. Kakashi crouched above her, still smiling widely, and Lina's heart began to beat wildly just seeing his full face. Reaching up to cup his face in her hands, she thought, _'No wonder he keeps his face covered. It must be illegal in all 5 Great Nations to be this beautiful.'_

Kakashi caught the look in her eyes and felt her heartbeat turn fast in her chest, and he asked softly, "What are you thinking about?" Lina shook her head and smiled. "I was just thinking how beautiful you are. Thank you for showing me your face." Kakashi smiled fondly down at her and leaned in for a sweet, tender kiss. "Thank you for letting down your hair for me." Lina looked into his eyes, surprised, but then she smiled. She'd never really thought about why she kept her hair up, but she knew that she wouldn't have been comfortable letting it down for anyone but him. Kissing him back just as softly, Lina rubbed her nose against his, giving him an Eskimo kiss. They closed their eyes at the sensation, and just hugged each other, so happy. Just then, Lina remembered something crucially important, and with a gasp she pushed Kakashi off of her and sat up, hand over her mouth.

"Oh my God."

Kakashi looked at her, somewhat annoyed. Could she never just stay still and cuddle? Scratching the back of his head and stretching, he languidly asked, "What?"

"Kurenai." Kakashi stopped mid-stretched. "What?"

"Kurenai." Lina repeated. "She was asleep when I left, but it's…" she looked at the clock beside the bed. "9am now, she's definitely up. And if she's up, that means she knows I'm not at home. Oh crap, oh crap." She was about to fling herself out of bed and grab her clothes to make a run for it home, but Kakashi saw through that plan and grabbed her hand and pulled her down.

"Kakashi, let go! I need to go and think of an excuse as to why I was out all night, or why I left so early in the morning, or whatever it is she thinks I did!"

"Lina, stop it. We'll just say you were training with me, and you forgot to leave a note. She knows you made jounin right? I'm your teacher, so its natural for us to train early in the morning right?" Lina shook her head. "No, no, we can't do that. She already thinks something's going on between us. She was pestering me all yesterday afternoon while I was helping her with the decorating."

Kakashi laughed and shrugged. "Then why not tell her? She won't say anything if we tell her not to." Lina nodded hesitantly, biting her lower lip. "But...but I don't know what to tell her. I mean, we haven't really umm, talked about this. So what do I say to her?" Kakashi looked down at her.

"Well, you can tell her that we are in a relationship, that I'm your boyfriend, that you're my girlfriend, that we're together, any one of those would do the job, don't you think?"

Lina gaped at him, a blush rising in her face. "We-We are?" She asked breathily. Kakashi nodded and smiled hesitantly. He'd said all of that in the spur of the moment, not thinking that maybe she didn't want this to develop into something so serious, considering her last relationship was so long ago. But he didn't have to worry, as Lina sat up and stared into her lap, a small smile crossing her face as her blush deepened. "Oh. Okay." she said quietly, and Kakashi's eyes twinkled. Lifting her chin up, he pecked her on the lips and said in a deeper voice, "Okay." They smiled at each other before Lina looked back down at herself and then up at Kakashi.

"Can I go take a shower now?" Kakashi's smile turned into a smirk as he said, "Sure. Do you want me to come in too?" Lina's cheeks tinged pink once again as she caught the innuendo in his voice. Deciding against telling him that she'd never had shower sex before, Lina nodded her head and gave him a warm smile. "Of course. Now, turn away." Kakashi widened his eye, surprised. "Why?"

Lina crossed her arms over her chest and said, "Because I want to find my clothes, and I don't want you looking at me." Kakashi laughed and ran his hands up and down her arms and said, "And if I refuse?" Moving down to Lina's sides, he gently cupped both her breasts from inside her bra (which was the only thing she was still wearing) and squeezed them, making her head fall onto his chest.

"Mmm, save it for the shower." Kakashi laughed through his nose and let go of her breasts, kissing her shoulder. "Fair enough. Go ahead." Lina turned to watch Kakashi turn his head around before she got up to grab her clothes. Figuring that she shouldn't bother to put them on when she was going to take a shower, she padded towards the door. She was almost there, when she heard a chuckle and Kakashi's voice.

"Well, that's a nice view." Whirling around, Lina squealed and covered herself as much possible before she threw something aimed at Kakashi's head.

"Kakashi!" He caught the thing she'd flung at him with his fingers, dangling her panties in front of him grinning. "Maa, for me? Why, thank you!" He loved how he didn't have to tone anything down for her, since she knew he was a pervert just by his book collection, and he knew she had to be one too, considering she was into those same books. Rolling her eyes, Lina pretended to be annoyed, saying "Whatever. Remember to bring those in when you come in." She backed out of the room, still covering herself , not allowing Kakashi a view of her backside.

Lina got in the shower, allowing the water to run down her body, and she relaxed. Hearing the door open, Lina turned to see Kakashi pad in, towel in hand. He placed the towel on the rack and opened the transparent shower door, which was starting to steam up. They both hissed slightly, Kakashi from the sudden heat in the shower, and Lina from the sudden chill he'd allowed in when he opened the door. As Kakashi stepped in, Lina reached out her hands to him, leading him under the water with her. Even under the steady stream of water, Lina could still see the intensity of Kakashi's open eye as he looked down at her. Breaking their stare, Lina slowly ran her hands over the bites and bruises she'd made last night, smiling at some of them as she remembered making them.

Kakashi watched Lina trace her fingers around his body, smiling slightly, and he unconsciously pulled her closer to him. Tilting her head up, Kakashi bent his head down to kiss the woman in his shower, keeping one hand around her shoulders to steady her as he brought the other down to her waist to mold her to him. With a satisfied groan, Lina wrapped her arms around Kakashi, giving into the feelings in her heart that had laid buried for so long. She felt Kakashi move her towards the tiles lining the shower, and she gasped into his mouth when she felt the cool tiles on her back. Kakashi lifted her up so that he wouldn't have to bend down, and Lina instinctively wrapped her arms and legs tightly around Kakashi, gluing herself to him. Feeling him harden and place himself at her entrance, Lina let out a protesting sound and dropped to the ground, kneeling. Kakashi looked down at her and asked, "What are you doing?"

"I'm a little sore from just now, so I'll help you out instead." she explained. Kakashi bent down, and kissed her guiltily. "I'm sorry, was I too rough? Are you hurt?" Lina smiled up at him and shook her head. "I'm fine, just a little sore, since we did it without much preparation or anything. Now stand up. This isn't just for you. I want to do this just as much as you want me to do it." She smiled cheekily, motioning for him to get up. Turning her attention to his length, Lina held it softly in her hands, palming the tip with a water-soaked palm. A bead of fluid came out, and she reached out to spread it around the tip with her index finger, smiling as she heard Kakashi moan. Deciding to be nice, she began licking him, slowly working up a pattern and rhythm that worked well for her. As she bobbed up and down, she used her tongue to lick the underside of Kakashi's length, before reaching up to the tip and sucking sharply, directing the most force at the slit in the very middle. Using one hand to steady herself on the shower wall, Lina used the other to grab Kakashi's scrotum, gently fondling them as she took her time in giving Kakashi pleasure. There was no rush, and she certainly enjoyed the sounds of Kakashi's ecstasy rebounding off the walls of the bathroom. More than once, she felt Kakashi grab her head, but after letting go of him completely the first time, he soon figured out to keep his hands to himself, or at least on her shoulders. As the moans increased in volume, Lina looked up, to see Kakashi bent over at the waist, hands clenched against the shower wall. Reaching up, she laid one of her hands on top of his, and he turned his over to hold hers in a strong grip. With her other hand, Lina continued groping Kakashi's balls, using her fingernails to lightly trace around them randomly, making Kakashi shiver. With a sudden buck upwards into Lina's mouth and a long groan, Kakashi went limp, releasing himself in her. Letting go of him, Lina looked up at him, wiping her mouth across the back of her hand and allowing the residue to rinse away. She saw him slowly slide down, and she quickly caught him before he hurt his tailbone or anything.

"Whoa, are you alright?" Kakashi just tugged her to him, kissing her fiercely, pulling her legs open and placing them on either side of himself as he sat on the bathtub floor, holding her with the water still raining down on them. Lina, while completely shocked, simply gave in, wrapping her arms under his arms and placing her hand on his shoulders. They kissed so intensely, not thinking about anything more in the world, and then just sat there, before Lina remembered why she's wanted to come in here. Looking around, she noticed two bottles of pump-out shampoo and body wash. She reached over to grab them and set them on the bathtub beside her. Turning off the water, she pumped out some shampoo, lathering it up in her palms, and beckoned Kakashi's head down. Kakashi obliged, opting to kiss and lick Lina's upper chest area , making her giggle. Lina shoved Kakashi with her hand, leaving a soapy print on his shoulder.

"Hey, stop that."

"I can't help it, you're sitting naked on top of me, and these things here are standing pretty tall." Kakashi smirked as he ran his thumbs over her nipples, making her drop her hands onto his shoulders. Cupping his face, Lina lifted it up slightly and kissed him, urging him to continue touching her, which he did. She moaned into the kiss, but softly broke it, pecking him on the nose with a smile before she pulled his hands away from her and began shampooing his hair again. Kakashi closed his eyes, leaning down to rest his face in her chest, leaving soap suds all over her neck and chin. Soon, she was finished, and she brought the shower head down and turned on the water.

"Close your eyes, I don't want suds going in them."

Kakashi smiled and did as he was told, loving the tone she took with him. Soft, caring, sweet. It reminded him of that night when she told him to 'be careful on your way home', that night she'd cooked for him. That night, he'd seen a different side of her, as she talked about her travels, and now, he was seeing another. As he felt the water fall on his head, Lina's hands combing through his hair to get rid of all the residual soap, he felt calm. Calmer than he had in a long time. After Obito, Rin, and his sensei had died, he'd been alone for a long time. When more and more of his comrades and friends had passed away on missions, Kakashi had slowly put a damper on his feelings, embedding them under layers upon layers of walls. He still had quite a few layers of walls up, even now, but ever since Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke had become his genin team, he'd slowly brought down some of them. And now, Lina was slowly taking down some of the other, more sturdy walls, and crumbling them like dust, just with her smile. Kakashi found himself opening up to her slowly, asking her opinion with small, insignificant things. While it would seem like nothing to an outside observer, to Kakashi, who was used to not depending on anyone except in battle, and even then it was only rarely, it was a huge step. As he thought about this, he felt the water turn off, and Lina's hands combed his hair out of his face.

"Stay here for a second, I'll be right back. Keep your eyes closed." He heard Lina speak in front of him, and then her minute weight shifted off of him for a second before she was back. Evidently, she'd gone to fetch the towel he'd brought in, because he felt the nubby surface wipe gently on his face, soaking up all the residual water. Feeling Lina get up again, Kakashi kept his eyes closed, wondering what she was doing now.

Lina bent around the shower door, hanging the towel back on the rack. When she turned back to Kakashi, she was surprised to see him with his eyes still closed. _'Well, I __**did**__ tell him to keep them closed.' _Lina smiled down at him. She sat down on top of him again and kissed his cheek, wrapping her arms loosely around his neck, crossing them in the back at the wrists. When he didn't open his eyes, Lina kissed his other cheek. Still nothing, although she saw him smile lopsidedly. She kissed him on his nose, making him crinkle it, but still nothing. Playfully, she said, "Well, jeez! I know it takes a kiss on the lips for a princess to wake up from her slumber, but what about a prince?" She saw Kakashi's eyebrows raise before he cracked an open-lipped smile and said, "Well, what makes you think it'll be any different for a prince?" Lina grinned down at him before sighing over-dramatically.

"Maa~, really? And here I thought kissing you _here_…" She kissed him softly on the forehead. "...would wake you up." Kakashi shook his head, grinning and showing his perfect teeth, but with his eyes still closed. "Nope." Lina let out a bit of a laugh before she composed herself enough to play some more.

"Hmm, then what should I do? Isn't there some other alternative? What if I kiss you…here?" She bent down and gently nibbled on his neck, wrapping as much of herself around him as possible to divert the cold, considering the heat in the bathroom was slowly dissipating now that the water was off. She felt Kakashi shake his head slightly, small droplets of water still in his hair landing on the both of them, ice cold to their still-warm bodies. Switching to the other side, she sucked on the other side of his neck, and then said softly, "How about here?"

Kakashi shook his head some more, smiling slightly, and tightened his hold on her. "Nope, it has to be the lips." Lina felt goose bumps on Kakashi's arms and chest, and so she decided to end the game quickly, before either of them caught a cold. Sighing one final time, she made a show of ho-hum-ing, before she finally planted a soft but firm kiss on his lips. Kakashi kept his eyes shut until he felt Lina pull away, at which point he finally opened them, seeing Lina smiling at him. He smiled back and playfully said, "Thanks." Lina's smile widened and she nodded. Looking down at the two of them, he saw that the 'game' had cost them their wetness, with parts of themselves now almost dry. Reaching across from her, he turned on the shower function while disabling the shower head, and helped Lina stand back up, bringing her close so that they were both under the water. After a few moments of soaking, and the return of some of the heat that the time had diffused, he shut off the water and pumped out a few pumps of the shampoo and turned to Lina.

"My turn." Lina stiffened slightly, as he'd expected. Letting her hair down for him had already been a big enough of a deal, but washing it? But he wanted to give it a try, even if there was a good chance that he would be rejected. But unexpectedly, Lina nodded. "Alright."

"Seriously?"

Lina smiled up at him and nodded. "Yeah, seriously. Why?"

Kakashi shook his head. "It's just, I didn't expect you to agree so quickly. I know how important hair is to most women, and you always leave it up, meaning it's important to you, so I just thought I'd have to beg." Lina looked up at him and said, "I trust you. Although if you want to beg, I don't mind watching." She laughed lightly as Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Lina turned around, her back facing him, and waited from him to start. Kakashi tapped her shoulder and said, "Sit down, your hair might take a while." and they both sat down on the bathtub floor again, Kakashi placing his legs on either side of her. Kakashi lathered up the shampoo in his hands and worked his way up from the ends of her hair up to the top, gently kneading and massaging the soap around her scalp. As he cleansed her hair, he watched her reflection in the transparent shower door, smiling when she closed her eyes. Soon, he'd finished lathering up her hair, and he took the shower head into his hand, testing the water on himself as he prepared to wash the soap away. When it was ready, he leaned forward and said, "Close your eyes tight." Lina nodded languidly, and Kakashi began rinsing her hair gently.

When he was finished, he lightly kissed the corner of her shoulder, and wrapped his arms around her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder. "All done." Lina leaned back, into him and said, "Not quite." Taking the body wash, she quirked a smile. Kakashi looked down at her and grabbed the bottle. "Me first." Lina pouted before she agreed. "Fine, but no funny business. I don't want to be the reason why you're out of hot water for the rest of the month." Kakashi whined lowly, saying "But Lina-chan~…" Lina laughed and shook her head. "That works even less! No, Kakashi-kun~." Kakashi smirked but relented, beginning to rub the soap on her back and shoulders. He got lower and lower, but went right past the area that was off limits, working on her legs and feet before making her turn around. Smiling a little too evilly, he pumped some more soap into his hands and said, "And now, for the twins." Lina blushed and tried to cover herself, saying "I can wash myself, thanks. Turn around." But Kakashi simply shook his head, pretending he hadn't heard her say anything. "Uh uh. If you keep covering yourself, how on earth do you expect me to wash you?"

"And I said I can wash myself, so turn around."

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Kakashi turned her around again, so that her back was facing him, and began rubbing soap on her chest, reaching from behind. He softly lathered up her breasts, making a point of rubbing soap on her nipples a little more than necessary before he moved on, down her stomach. He then went to her arms, softly rubbing small circles of soap into them, remembering her soft spot in her inner arms. Finally, when everything was complete, he moved down to her area, slowly opening her legs up from behind.

"H-hey! I said no funny business!"

"But Lina-chan, you have to clean down there too. You don't want an infection, now do you?" Kakashi innocently asked, borrowing the lines from Icha Icha Tactics volume 1, glad that she couldn't see the quirk of his smile through the reflection as he was hiding behind her body. Lina remembered the scene well, which meant she knew what was coming. Naturally, she tried to struggle, laughing a little, but eventually conceded, glaring at him through the glass. Slowly, he traced his fingers around her before he dived in shallowly, making her gasp and arch forwards. A pang of throbbing pain rippled through her insides, and Lina immediately grabbed Kakashi's hand to make him stop.

"Stop Kakashi, please. I'm still hurt." He immediately stopped, turning her around to have a look at her, worry showing in his face. "Oh, God, I completely forgot. I'm so sorry, are you alright?" Lina laid her hands on Kakashi's chest, gently stroking it as she shook her head. "It's alright, I forgot too, until I felt it again. I'm fine. I want to do this too, but I don't think today's going to work. I'm sorry." Lina looked down, ashamed that she'd just ruined everything. _'Why couldn't my body be normal?'_ she asked herself for the umpteenth time in her life. Kakashi saw her expression and immediately lifted her chin up so that she would look at him.

"Hey, it's not your fault. It's mine, I shouldn't have pushed you so hard. I'm sorry." Lina darted her eyes away from Kakashi, still feeling horrible, but nodded to appease him. Seeing right through it, he gathered her into his arms and rubbed circles on her back. They sat like that for a little while until Lina looked down at Kakashi's body and giggled softly. Smiling uncertainly, Kakashi pulled back.

"What?"

"I've gotten soap all over you." Kakashi looked down at himself and smirked, "Maybe I should just use you as a giant sponge instead, hm?" Lina laughed, and Kakashi finally relaxed. He reached for the shower head to wash off the soap from Lina's body, but she stopped him. "Hang on, let me do you first. Then we can wash off together, and we'll save water." Kakashi's expression softened and he nodded. Lina pumped out some soap into her hands and softly began lathering up his body, starting from the shoulders going down his back. When she'd finished with his legs and feet, she began at the front, starting from his shoulders again. Nearly reaching his nipples, Lina decided to have a little payback. After all, she knew where that would-be scene was going to go, and she wasn't going to stand by and let him get away with it, even if it hadn't actually happened. Casually bringing her hands up to his neck, Lina gave him a long kiss, which Kakashi gladly took. As she distracted him, she trailed her fingers down his chest back to his nipples, soaping them up gently before she began rubbing them and pinching them, making them swollen and tight. Kakashi shifted under her, uncomfortably aware that his nipples were feeling tight. But it didn't last long, as Lina continued to lather him up slowly, rubbing on his abdomen, then his navel, and finally lower. When Lina grasped him, Kakashi immediately stiffened, his hand swiftly coming down to cover hers over his length.

"What are you doing?" He looked into Lina's eyes, and found her smirking. Batting away his hand, Lina began stroking him softly, rubbing her thumb against his slit every time she reached the top, making him clench.

"Lin-Lina, wha-Ahhh~." Kakashi found himself leaning on the shower wall, watching her with his barely open eyes. He was starting to feel the familiar coil in his stomach when he suddenly felt Lina remove her hands. Looking up, he saw her sitting in front of him, smiling.

"Well, it looks like you're all lathered up. Time to wash."

"O-oi! You can't just leave me like this!" Kakashi said frantically, his length almost painfully stiff. Lina simply said Kakashi's would-be line, "If you want it, all you have to do is ask." He realized immediately what she was doing and frowned, not liking the feeling of being outdone. Lina grinned and kissed him softly, stroking him gently, not enough to give him relief, as she whispered, "Payback's a bitch, eh?"

"Lina…" Kakashi ground out, his face scrunched up, but Lina just wagged her finger. "Uh uh. Tell me what you want."

"I want...you."

"Hmm? You have me." She knew was the line was 'supposed' to be, considering it was hers, but considering the circumstances, she expected him to change it up.

"No! I want you, on top of me, so I can drive myself in you over and over." Kakashi growled out the words, and Lina smiled, satisfied. Kissing Kakashi's lips softly, she said, "Good boy." Grabbing the shower head, she quickly rinsed his front off, rushing to relieve him as quickly as possible, knowing how painful it could be. Bending down, she began bobbing her head, holding Kakashi down as he tried to buck up in the slippery bathtub. She sucked him quickly, allowing him to release, before she brought herself up again. Wiping her mouth, she asked, "Better?" Kakashi nodded sluggishly, albeit annoyed.

"You're crazy, you know that?" Lina grinned back at him. "Hey, it's not different from what you were going to do to me, suck it up." Kakashi smirked back and said, snickering, "I believe you did enough of that for me, ne?" Rolling her eyes, Lina began to rinse off the rest of the soap off of them, muttering 'perv' under her breath. Kakashi of course caught the word, and just laughed, "Yeah, well you're a sadist." He carefully got up from the bathtub floor, switched the water to the shower directly above his head, and pulled Lina over. Holding her carefully in his arms, he inspected her body, trying to see if he could find her injury, although he knew it was useless without the Byakugan. Lina, on the other hand, was beginning to feel embarrassed at him looking at her, and she made to cover herself up with her hands.

"Hey, stop staring at me!" Kakashi looked to her face and laughed. "What? It's not like there's anything I didn't see last night." Lina groaned and made to get out of the shower, now that she was all clean and soap-free, but Kakashi pulled her back into a deep kiss. When it ended, he said against her lips "You're beautiful. Don't hide it from me." Lina promptly blushed crimson and lightly shoved him away, embarrassed.

"Stop that."

Kakashi laughed as he watched Lina turn away, clearing trying to hide her blush from him. He lightly pecked her on the cheek and got out of the shower, saying over his shoulder, "It's true." Lina stood in the shower, watching him through the glass as she bit her lip. She'd known, or thought, for the last 12 years that she wasn't pretty. The first few months after leaving Konoha had strengthened that discovery into a fact, and she'd never strayed from it ever since. And yet, one word from Kakashi telling she was, had her rethinking her entire belief system for the last decade. She'd guessed last night as she was looking for Kakashi's apartment, that she was too far gone, hopelessly attracted to him, but now it really was official. He had the ability to make her think she could be anything, and she was suddenly overcome with an enormous sense of fear. What if he discovered that she really was in fact, just average? What if he realized that she was not suitable for him? It was silly, ridiculous, considering they were just starting out. Lina had no reason to worry, and she knew that. She knew that he liked her for more than just her looks, otherwise he would never be so incredibly endearing to her.

"You coming out?" Lina looked up, having drifted off into her own world. Smiling, she stepped out and walked straight into Kakashi holding an open towel. He tightly wrapped it around her, kissing the top of her head. Lina smiled up at him before asking , "Why are you still naked? Aren't you cold?" Kakashi shook his head. They quickly got dressed, or at least Lina tried to, but she soon realized that her panties were missing. Rounding on Kakashi, who was fully dressed by now, watching her, she said "Where are they?" Smirking, Kakashi pulled them out of his pocket, waving them at her.

"Looking for these?"

"Give them!" Lina reached to grab them, but Kakashi pulled them out of reach, laughing. Lina tried several more times, but giving up, she crossed her arms and said, "Fine, then I'll just go commando." Of course she was bluffing, but Kakashi simply pocketed the panties and smirked. "Fine." Lina whirled around, eyes wide with fury. "Wha-KAKASHI! Give them, now!" Kakashi slipped out the bathroom door, waving his hand at her, and she gave chase, running in nothing but her bra and the towel that was now hanging around her waist. Suddenly, she thought of something brilliant. Horrible, but still brilliant. Crouching down, she held her stomach and moaned, pretending to be in a lot of pain. Kakashi was back in an instant, holding her and carrying her to the bed.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Try to relax, I'll go find Sakura." Lina stiffened as she realized her plan may actually be a bad idea, so she quickly slipped her fingers into his pocket, took out her panties, and changed her expression.

"There's no need for that."

Kakashi looked down, hearing her voice change, and saw her smirking. "What do you mean?" Lina waved her panties in front of her, smiling wryly. Kakashi sat, stunned for a moment, before he turned away from her and sat on the bed, not speaking. Lina looked at him for a moment before she crawled up to him, wrapping her hands over his chest.

"I was actually worried, you know." Kakashi's voice mixed with hurt stung Lina's heart, and she immediately kissed his neck, rubbing her hand over his chest soothingly. "I'm sorry, I know. It was a joke, but I guess I took it too far. Forgive me?" Kakashi sat for a moment before he nodded. Lina laid her face down on Kakashi's back, arms loose around him. She felt Kakashi reach down to grab her hands and lift them to his lips, and she smiled into his back. Kakashi turned around and hugged her tight saying, "Don't ever do that again. I've got enough guilt in me." Lina nodded and held him just as fiercely, kissing his neck and shoulders. She pushed him off her and kissed him in a long, sweet kiss, easing all the hurt in him. She now knew how vulnerable he could be, and she felt the strongest urge to protect him. _'I won't let him become another Souta.'_ She thought.

Kakashi slowly let go of Lina and took the pair of panties that had lain forgotten on the bed. Smiling at her, he teasingly said, "How about I help you get into these?" He watched Lina laugh and shake her head before she rolled her eyes and nodded. "Sure, why not." Slowly laying her back onto the bed, Kakashi put Lina's legs through the holes in the cloth, kissing his way up one leg and down the other. When he was done, he helped Lina up again, and they walked back to the bathroom to gather the rest of her clothes.

After she'd put them on, she reached for the silver rose necklace she'd discarded when she went into the shower. She hooked it onto her neck again.

"Where did you get that necklace?" Lina looked at Kakashi through the mirror, her fingers running over the petals of the rose. Turning back to him, she said, "Can we not talk about that? I'm sorry, it's something personal to me." Kakashi looked down at her and nodded. He knew the feeling of wanting to keep some things private, such as his Sharingan. Even though most of the shinobi now knew how he'd got it, or at least had heard rumors, he still preferred to not discuss it, as it was something he held close to his heart. Smiling down, he said, "Breakfast?" Lina beamed up at him and said, "Yeah, although I have a feeling that it's nearly lunchtime." Kakashi chuckled and tugged her out of the bathroom, into the kitchen.

Motioning her to sit down, Kakashi opened the fridge, asking "What do you want to eat?" Lina thought for a minute before she said, "Actually, I'm not really hungry, more thirsty. Can I have some tea?" Kakashi looked back at her and said, "Are you sure? It's mid-morning now, nearly lunch time." The inner pervert in her knew exactly why she wasn't hungry, but Lina wasn't about to say that it was because she'd drunk so much of him that her stomach had stopped growling, so she just smiled and nodded. "Just tea is good." Kakashi nodded and put on a pot as he rummaged through his fridge. Taking out some rice, an egg, and some soy sauce, he heated up the rice, cracked the egg into the rice and poured some soy sauce over it, mixing the combination together until the egg began to cook in the heat of the rice. Using chopsticks, he quickly shovelled the food into his mouth, his stomach starting to protest at the lack of sustenance. When he lowered his bowl, he caught Lina staring at him smiling.

"What?"

Lina shook her head, entranced. "This is the first time I'm seeing you eat." Kakashi paused, waiting. When Lina didn't say anything, he prompted her. "And?" Lina just shook her head. "Nothing. It's nice." Kakashi smiled back at her and got up to give her the tea. He watched her drink and sigh, relaxing into the chair, and he felt an overwhelming sense of peace. They sat together in silence, before Lina thought of something.

"Hey, Kakashi?"

"Mmm?"

"Since we're telling Kurenai about...us, can I tell Raidou?" Kakashi looked at her, his stomach stirring. He remembered how close she and Raidou had gotten in the last few weeks, and he felt a little disgruntled. At the same time, the jealous part of him kind of wanted to see Raidou's reaction when Lina told him they were together, so he nodded. "Sure. By the way, how did you guys get so close?" Lina looked up, surprised.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you call him Raidou now, not Raidou-san, like you used to."

"Ohh, that! Well, we hung out a couple of times, got to know each other well, and I asked him if I could call him that and he said sure." Lina's smile faltered as she saw Kakashi's face flicker with annoyance when she mentioned them hanging out together. Reaching over to grab his hand, she asked, "Are you alright?" Kakashi smiled and shook his head, but Lina could see that it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Of course, why shouldn't I be?"

Lina lifted an eyebrow to show that she didn't believe him for a second, but she left the topic untouched. Getting up, she said, "I should get going. Kurenai's probably worried that I'm missing or something." Kakashi got up and walked up to her, pulling her close, and kissed her softly. Lina moaned into him, molding her body to fit his, and they stood like that, holding each other for a long time. Finally breaking away, Kakashi asked, his hand still around her hip. "Do you want me to walk you back?" Lina shook her head, pressing her hand on his chest, and said, "No, I think I can make it home myself. Thanks." Kakashi nodded.

"So I guess I'll see you for training tomorrow. We'll work on your ninjutsu, since your taijutsu's coming along well."

Lina nodded and pulled away. "Same time, same place?" Kakashi smiled and nodded. He trailed his hands down her arms as she pulled away, grabbing her fingers for a moment before he finally let her go. Smiling, Lina walked out of the door. She took to the rooftops, not wanting to be spotted in the now busy streets of Konoha.

-end

Author's Note: soooooo, the morning after, eh? :P What do you guys think? As I said before, this chapter is a gift for all my reviewers and consistent readers, and especially to Helli and Anuxamurane. I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope I did the chapter justice :) I personally loved seeing a bit more action between them, and a bit of Lina's pervyness, which I hinted at from her having Icha Icha books, came out in this chapter. I love having them play off of each other, and how they're so immediately comfortable with each other. When I wrote this chapter, I was thinking of Ross and Rachel from the sitcom Friends. I know, Lina and Kakashi haven't known each other for years, but technically, Rachel didn't really get to know Ross until she moved in with Monica, right? Cuz before, she always just thought of him as Monica's geeky older brother. But immediately after they started going out, they fit together perfectly. As Phoebe once put it: She's his lobster. And to me, Lina is Kakashi's lobster, and he is hers. :) If you don't get the reference, here's a bit of background: Lobsters (according to the TV show Friends, at least) fall in love and mate for life. And you can see old lobsters walking around their tank, holding claws. Alright, that last part I don't buy for one second, but it's a sweet idea, right? So I'm using it to describe them. By the way, if you've never seen or heard of the show, Google it or something. I personally loooove the story. It gets a little stupid halfway though the series, because of all the complications, but the beginning 2-3 seasons are adorable, and the final season made me cry. Definitely recommended for romance lovers, plus lots of comedy.

Oh, and yes, I had to put in that little fake-hurt scene where Lina pretends to actually be in pain to get her underwear back. I know, it's mean, but being away from relationships for so long, I'd think she'd be a little immature and unfamiliar with how to act while in a relationship, even if she is very intuitive on missions and other stuff. Plus, it gave me a chance to showcase Kakashi's more vulnerable side, seeing as he's always feeling guilty about Obito, Rin, and all his other comrades (he doesn't feel guilty for Minato, right? Cuz that would make no sense).

Oh and btw, don't you just love how Kakashi springs up the whole 'we're together' thing? Rofl, just like him to be all relaxed about it, even though he wasn't really thinking about it before he did it.

So, until next time, ja ne! :)


	19. Chapter 19

**Something I wanted to mention, just cuz it's somewhat relevant to the story: right after the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime, the Pain arc starts. Now, I personally want to develop more of the Lina/Kakashi/rest of the gang's relationships, so I'm stretching the time frame just a bit. Pain invasion won't come for a few chapters.**

As always, please review, comment, write something! I'm dying to know what you guys think. Ja ne! ;)

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. I do, however, own any original ideas or characters (such as Sasaki Lina) that I have created.

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Sasaki Lina is 29. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: **the Pain arc is still going to happen, I'm making Sasuke come back too, but Shinobi Alliance arc is still going to happen, as well as anything that didn't directly involve him in the anime/manga.** I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?)

_**PLEASE REVIEW! COMMENT, ANYTHING! THANKS :D**_

_**Chapter 19**_

When she arrived at her apartment, she quietly slipped in, only to find Kurenai sitting on the couch waiting for her. Walking in, she said, "Hey." Kurenai looked her up and down and asked, "Where were you? I woke up this morning and you were gone." Taking in a deep breath, Lina bit her bottom lip and sat down beside Kurenai. Turning to face her, Lina said, "Kurenai, there's something I want to tell you. But, you have to swear you won't tell anyone. Okay?" Kurenai appraised her before nodding.

Taking in another deep breath, Lina stared into her lap for a moment before she spoke. "Kakashi and I...umm...we...umm.."

"Oh my God." Lina looked up at Kurenai, sure she'd figured it out without her having to say any more. And sure enough, Kurenai was staring at her, wide eyed and shocked. Slowly, Lina nodded, a tentative smile forming. With a shriek, Kurenai grabbed Lina's hands. Apparently the pregnancy hormones had turned her very girly today, which was perfect for the news she was being given.

"Tell me everything!"

And so Lina did, starting from her telling him that she'd made jounin candidacy on top of the Hokage Mountain, then to the night they'd spent together, then to this morning. By the time she was finished, Kurenai had a wide smile on her face, and she was clutching Lina's hands tightly. With the story finally complete, Kurenai leaned back on the sofa, saying "I_ knew _something happened yesterday!" Lina laughed but quickly sobered up.

"Kurenai, you really can't tell anyone though. I kind of like keeping this a secret, at least for now. Okay?" Kurenai nodded understandingly. She hadn't told anyone except Anko that she and Asuma were together. And despite her wild exterior, Anko actually kept secrets well.

"Alright, I won't tell anyone. But I can't believe you two actually did it! So, how is he?" She wiggled her eyebrows up and down suggestively. Lina cringed while smiling, having known that the question was going to be asked sooner or later. "Is he as good as the rumors?"

Lina looked at Kurenai. "Rumors?"

Kurenai nodded knowingly. "Oh yeah, there are lots of rumors about him floating around. I guess mostly because of his mask, and aloofness, it drives women mad. So?" Lina smiled happily as she thought back to last night, and then this morning.

"He's…incredible. And not just in bed, either. He's so sweet, and caring, and…" She trailed off, smiling and giggling as she remembered. Kurenai poked her in the side to wake her up, and the two women laughed.

XXX

The next day, Lina headed off to the training field, but not without Kurenai giving her a wicked smirk and mentioning something about being 'safe'. Lina rolled her eyes, grinning, and walked out the front door. Walking into the usual training ground, Lina saw Kakashi waiting for her, and it took most of her willpower not to run up to him like a little school girl. Reminding herself that she was here for _training_, Lina waved at him and walked slowly.

Kakashi watched Lina walk into the field, wearing her usual training attire and her hair back up in the bun, and he grinned under his mask. Getting up from his leaning position, he met her halfway, wanting to touch her, grab her hand and kiss it, or better yet, grab and kiss _her._

"Hey." Lina looked up at Kakashi, finding it oddly unfamiliar seeing him all covered up. Speaking in a softer voice, she said, winking, "I prefer you with your mask off." Kakashi gave her an eye-crinkled smile, countering with "I prefer you with your hair down." Lina slumped her shoulders, rolling her eyes, but cracked a smile. Walking a small distance away, she said, "Stretches?" Kakashi followed her and began.

"I told Kurenai."

"And?"

"And she's thrilled, of course. Although her reaction may be more due to the pregnancy hormones, cuz she seemed a little more…girly than usual, if you get my meaning. Anyway, she said she'd keep it quiet until we want to tell people."

"Okay." Lina turned to look at Kakashi, surprised that he didn't have more to say. But then again, she supposed there really wasn't much to say. Nodding back, she finished loosening up.

"So what do we do first, se-n-se-i~?" Lina said teasingly. Kakashi widened his eye, suddenly picturing her in a civilian's school girl's uniform, instantly remembering several key scenes in his Icha Icha Paradise and Violence books. Shooting Lina a smoldering look, he said in a low voice, "Behave. If you don't, I may have to _teach you a lesson._" Lina's eyebrows shot up before she smirked and said just as softly, "Why don't you?" Kakashi stared down at her for a moment before walking into the forest. "Come with me."

Lina followed him into the forest, wondering what on earth he was doing. The moment she was fully engulfed in the trees, she was pushed against one of them. She gasped, about to scream, only to have her mouth enveloped by Kakashi's now uncovered one as he pushed himself up against her, sandwiching her between him and the tree. Lina closed her eyes and sank into the kiss, wrapping her arms around Kakashi's neck and moaning lowly. They had a long kiss together, their hands travelling around each other's torsos, remembering paths taken previously. Finally stopping for air, Lina said breathlessly, "Remind me to be bad more often." Pulling him forward, Lina mashed her lips against Kakashi's, curling her fingers in his hair, heart pounding in her chest as she pressed him as close against her as humanly possible. She heard him let out a growl as he kissed her back, and she brought her hand to the back of his neck, massaging it gently as the other one stayed in his hair. Somewhere along the line, Lina's legs had wrapped themselves around Kakashi, and he'd placed one of his hands on her bottom, supporting her, while the other rested on the tree bark as a supporting device for the two of them. After the two had shared a long make out session, Lina finally pulled away from Kakashi.

"As much as I want to stay like this with you, I need to train. Come on, Kakashi, I need to make jounin." She smiled as she heard Kakashi whine and bury his face in her shoulder, kissing it. Gently holding his face in her hands, Lina looked into his visible eye and smiled, kissing the bridge of his nose. With a sigh, he let her down, and they straightened up, helping each other fix clothes and hair before they walked back out of the forest.

"So, ninjutsu. You're part of the Sasaki Clan, so you're skilled in water and some wind, right?" Kakashi spoke in a normal voice, not an ounce of inappropriate affection in his voice, as if he were talking to any other shinobi.

Lina nodded. "Yes, but because I've been away from the village, I'm not all that skilled in Wind, having only trained on my own. I also have some sound jutsu background, but I'm not very comfortable with using sound techniques. I can only really use one, and I need to combine it with my Water style to make it work." Kakashi nodded. "Alright, I can't really help you with Sound jutsus, but I can help with Wind. Try using a wind technique on a target, and I'll have a look to see."

Lina nodded and turned to face the wooden poles staggered around the field. Forming the hand seals, Lina tried to form a wind storm, lightly kicking up grass and dust as the storm descended on the target. Rather than split the target in half and rip it out of the ground like she'd intended, the wind storm simply cut shallow cuts on the target before dissipating. Sighing, she looked back at Kakashi, finding him staring at her rather than the jutsu, with his Sharingan visible.

"Hm, I think I see the problem." He walked up to her, still staring at her with his special eye. "You're using too much chakra and energy, not to mention the flow of your seals is off, which makes me think that maybe you're not suited for Wind nature. Let's see, take this." Kakashi handed her a piece of paper.

"Nature Chakra Identification Paper? But won't it just show that I have water nature?" Kakashi shook his head, smiling slightly under his mask. "The paper reacts to your chakra, you're right, but because you've mastered Water nature, it automatically goes to the next nature you are most susceptible to." Lina nodded and closed her eyes, running her chakra through the paper. After a moment, she heard a crinkle and opened her eyes. Sure enough, the paper had crinkled, meaning Lightning chakra. Lina looked up at Kakashi, smiling. Perfect, considering her boyfriend's main chakra nature was Lightning. _'Wow, I can't believe just thought of him as my boyfriend. Just like that.'_ Lina thought, loving the sound of the words in her head.

Kakashi looked down at his girlfriend, giving an eye-crinkled smile, and said, "Nice. Well, this'll be easy enough then. To start off, I'll show you what you'll be working on. This is a Chidori, my first original technique." Kakashi held out his left hand, holding his elbow with his right hand, and formed a mass of white lightning in his left hand before he turned and rammed the hand into a nearby wooden post. As Lina watched, she was pleased to see that it was a short-to-mid range technique. Seeing as most of her techniques were long range, she knew having at least one short range technique would be useful to show the proctors that she was capable.

Kakashi turned around and walked back to Lina saying, "You'll have to make that your own, because it's nearly impossible to use without a Sharingan." Lina looked confused and was about to speak, he held up his hand explained. "See, the user needs to run in a straight line, so you tend to get tunnel vision. It works with the Sharingan, because, as you know, the Sharingan can see and predict all movements. Without it, you won't be able to dodge in time if someone were to manage to come from the sides." Lina nodded slowly and processed the information before smiling.

"Alright, I've got it. Seals?" Kakashi showed her the seal pattern, and she tried them out a few times without using chakra, to get a feel of the transitions.

She found that, although not quite to the same extent as with water jutsus, she was comfortable with the flow and transition between the seals, much more so than she'd been with wind style seals, and after a few tries the pattern was no longer choppy or staggered in timing.

"When you channel your chakra, imagine electricity coursing through you body. Imagine it all directed towards your arm, and then your hand." Kakashi instructed, for once actually paying attention rather than reading Icha Icha.

Lina worked her way up to a satisfying speed (for now) and tried running her chakra into her left arm, imagining shock after shock of electricity running through her. A small spark came out of her fingers before it quickly vanished, and Lina found herself exhausted already. Trying again, she tried to envision what Kakashi had held in his hand just moments ago, this time concentrating her chakra on the palm of her hand instead of just vaguely thinking about it. The first time, she'd felt like a barrier had been erected between her hand and the chakra, and she wasn't able to get it to connect smoothly. This time, she found a bit more concentrated energy in her palm, although it was nowhere near as large as Kakashi's had been.

Kakashi watched Lina try out different techniques, and she seemed to be improving slowly. She was much faster on the uptake than Naruto had been with his wind natured chakra, Kakashi pondered, although she was certainly more experienced than the boy had been in chakra nature training. He saw Lina come up to him, a question visible on her face. "Kakashi, I don't know if this is a stupid question or not, but do I have to use my left hand? I'm not really used to it, considering I'm right-handed, and I somehow think it might be easier if I use my dominant hand, you know? It'll help with aiming too, right?" Kakashi beamed down at her and said, "Try it." Lina nodded and turned back to the post.

Envisioning the chakra moving down her right arm and out of her palm, Lina concentrated her chakra once more. All of the sudden, a white bolt of light shot out of her hand with an almighty screech and began cutting down everything wildly. Lina yelped and lost her concentration, the white bolt slowly dimming down to static, and then nothing. Lina looked down at her palm, seeing it singed and wafting smoke. Kakashi, who had known what would happen when she used her dominant hand, had leapt back several bounds. Walking back slowly, he calmly said, "Maybe a little less of an outburst of chakra, and more containment, hm?" Lina nodded, flexing her hand, wincing at the slight pain. It was like she'd electrocuted herself. In that one go, she'd let out about a third of all her chakra, and that wasn't counting all the other times she'd tried before with her left hand. She looked up at Kakashi.

"That technique uses a lot of chakra, eh?"

Kakashi nodded. "When I first started, I could only do two full Chidoris a day, but it gets easier with practice."

Lina nodded and turned her attention to her hand. She was amazed that he had the chakra to do two of them, when she could probably only do two giant bursts like she'd done just now, and containment took up nearly half the chakra of the jutsu, which left her with one full Chidori a day at most, once she was able to master it. Her goal for the jounin exams was to be able to use up to 3 full-fledged Chidori-with-a-twist's with some chakra to spare. It was enough to show the judges that she was able to use short range techniques. Taking a moment to collect herself, she concentrated once more.

XXX

After several more attempts, all failures, and the training field now looking like several lightning bolds had hit it, Lina fell to the ground, exhausted. It seemed that she really had nothing in between the two extremes of nothing and giant bursts of lightning. She'd tried to tone down the amount of chakra, but the moment she did, she lost all feeling of the chakra she WANTED in her hand. Wiping the back of her hand over her forehead, Lina reached over to grab her water, only to find that it was several feet away, and she'd need to get up. Groaning, Lina staggered to her feet, wobbled over to the pack that contained her water, and slumped to the ground, spraying it on herself. The weather had suddenly turned hot, marking the start of summer, and Lina was feeling the sun start to beat on her now that the day was inching towards mid-morning. Collapsing on her back, Lina lay face up, staring up at the bright blue sky, still panting slightly. She felt Kakashi sit down beside her and put his hand on her knee.

"How'm I doing?" Kakashi looked down at Lina, watching her gulp in air as she waited for him to answer. "Well, considering you're the second person I've taught this jutsu to, and the first was a genius, not to mention an Uchiha, pretty good." Lina immediately sat up, intrigued. "An Uchiha? It must be Uchiha Itachi's younger brother, right? There are no other ones left." Kakashi nodded, his visible eye showing his sorrow. Lina wanted to know more, but she'd caught the look in his eye, and she didn't press it. Leaping up as best as she could, she said, "Alright, one more time!" She rhythmically went through the seals and concentrated on her palm. Evidently her eagerness to continue had translated into her chakra, because she let out a huge pillar of chakra straight up from her palm that blasted her away. She lay dazed on the ground for a few seconds before she felt Kakashi's hands on her, frantically checking if she was alright. Weakly, she smiled up at him and said, "I think I put a little too much 'Lina' in that last one." Kakashi pulled her to him quickly, wrapping her in a tight hug. Lina grinned and wrapped her very sore arms around Kakashi's body, not caring if anyone was watching her.

Whispering in his ear, Lina said, "How about we leave it like this and go home? I'm too tired to do anything else anyway." Kakashi nodded and pulled back. He got up and reached down to help Lina up, but as soon as she stood on her feet, she wobbled and fell to the ground again, her legs shaking.

"Whoa, hi ground." Lina joked. Kakashi tried to help her up again, but when she started to fall, he swiftly brought his arm behind her knee and lifted her up in a bridal style.

"Whoa! Kakashi, what are you doing?!" Lina squealed, having suddenly been tipped off balance. Kakashi looked down at her and smirked, beginning to walk. "I'm carrying a beautiful girl home, what does it look like?" Lina began to struggle, her legs, while still shaky, flailing as she tried to be set down.

"Kakashi, put me down, I can walk."

"Actually no, you can't." Kakashi said, letting out a chuckle when he heard Lina huff. Thinking that he'd rather get home quicker anyway, he slowly lowered her to the ground and said, "Keep your arms around me, and put your legs around me too. Keep as much of yourself on me as possible." Lina hesitantly hugged Kakashi, feeling like an onbaa. She was about to open her mouth and ask why, when she felt an unpleasant tug in the pit of her stomach, and the next thing she knew, she was in Kakashi's apartment. Letting go of him, Lina made to get up, only to fall flat on her hands after she forgot that she still couldn't walk.

"Easy. Sit back and relax." Kakashi pulled Lina's shoulders back, until they were leaning on the couch in the living room, where they currently were. Lina looked at him. "Did you just bring me here with your body flicker?"

Kakashi nodded and made to get her a cup of tea. "Yeah. The feeling takes some getting used to."

Lina snorted lightly. "I'll say. Next time give me a heads up, alright?"

Kakashi chuckled. He soon brought her a cup of tea and sat down beside her, laying his arm around her shoulders and pulling her to him. Lina leaned her upper body on Kakashi's chest, drinking her tea. After a short while, Lina set down her cup and kissed him softly, mask still covering his face. She trailed her fingers up to the top of the mask and lightly pulled down before she kissed him again. Kakashi wrapped his arms around her and abruptly pushed her down onto the couch seats, muffling her squeal as he continued to kiss her. He was about to put his hand up her shirt, when he felt her restrain him.

"Mm, stop. I'm all sweaty and gross-smelling." Kakashi stopped his actions and grinned down at her. Licking her earlobe lightly, he whispered roughly into her ear, "I like it dirty." Lina covered her mouth to muffle a giggle, but soon composed herself. Dragging her hands down Kakashi's back sensuously, she lightly grabbed his bum and said, "Well I can't complain with that, now can I?" Kakashi pulled away for a moment, making sure he had the same girl under him as the day before saying "Feisty, I like it.", and then began licking her neck, making her shiver delightfully. They were just about to undress, when they both heard a familiarly obnoxiously loud voice running up the stairs in Kakashi's apartment.

"Kaka-sensei!" Lina and Kakashi flung themselves away from each other, hurrying to straighten up just in time for Naruto to spring into the flat with a wide grin on his face.

"Kaka-sense- oh. I didn't know you had company." Kakashi scratched the back of his head, annoyed. He'd put his mask on just in time, but the one thing he wasn't able to hide was a lump forming in his pants. A quick look to Lina told him she'd seen his little problem, if her pursed lips and lifted corners were any indication.

"Naruto, how many times do I have to tell you to knock, wait for me to answer, and _then_ come in?"

"But Kaka-sensei~! You always take soooooo long, and I want to train again! Ne, ne, maybe we can work on a different nature, now that I've mastered wind nature?" Naruto said eagerly, bouncing from one leg to the other, completely ignoring Lina once again. But his question caught Lina's attention, and she asked, "You have wind natured chakra?" Naruto turned to her and nodded proudly. "Yup!" Lina smiled and said, "I can use some wind jutsus too! Except I'm not really good, because apparently I'm more suitable for Lightning chakra instead of Wind." Naruto gave her his full attention now. "You have lightning nature? That's just like Sasuke!" Lina felt Kakashi stiffen beside her, but decided to ask anyway.

"Who's Sasuke?" Naruto's face lit up immediately as he spoke about Sasuke.

"Sasuke's one of the members of Team Seven, the original genin team with me, Sakura-chan, and Kaka-sensei. He's-" "Naruto. Was there something you wanted from me?" Kakashi interrupted, making Naruto feel slightly put off, but he brightened up in the next instant.

"Ne, ne, Kaka-sensei, can we train? Can you teach me Lightning style? Or Fire style? Oh, what about Earth style? OOOH! How about Water style!"

Kakashi sighed again, feeling his lump softening with each syllable the loud boy spoke. Shooting an apologetic look to Lina, he quickly said, "Naruto, Lina and I were discussing something, so now really isn't a good time. And besides, you should be working to improve your Fuuton: Rasen-Shuriken, instead of attempting to learn new things." Naruto tried to protest, but Lina butt in hastily.

"A-Actually, Naruto-kun, it's my fault that Kakashi's not able to train you. See, I just made the jounin candidacy, and I asked him to train me. So, I'm sorry, but I'll have to borrow your sensei for a little while." Lina clasped her hands in front of her chest, giving Naruto her 'pleading' eyes as she looked up to him (since she was still sitting down). Naruto scratched the back of his head as he reluctantly said, "No, it's fine, I guess. I'll just get Yamato-taichou to help me out with my training. He's better anyway, being able to control the Kyuubi and all. Congrats on getting making the jounin candida-whatever." Lina gave him a bright smile and nodded. "Thanks, Naruto-kun." Waving goodbye, Naruto quickly left the apartment, saying something about getting some ramen.

As the door closed, Lina felt Kakashi's arms wrap around her waist and pull her onto his lap. Lina let out a yelp as she felt Kakashi tilting her back backwards until it rested on his arm, his other arm resting on her thigh. Looking up at him, she smiled and tugged down his mask and hitai ate, until she could see his whole face.

"There we go."

Kakashi switched arms holding her up, and used the original one to try and undo her hair. After a few moments of watching Kakashi struggle, Lina laughingly lent him a hand. "Here." She tousled her hair a bit, smiling as she watched his expression soften. He laid her back down on the couch, her head resting on the armrest, got on top of her and kissed her senselessly. Or at least he would have, if she hadn't shoved him away lightly.

"Uh uh. No more. I'm not putting out anymore until I get a real date." Kakashi's eyebrows rose sky high for a moment before he smirked. _'Oh, this'll be interesting.'_ Caressing Lina's face, he said, "You do know that means you'll need to tell everyone that we're going out, right?" Lina's smile faltered for a moment when she realized that. "Oh….right. Umm, well it doesn't have to be around other people. There are lots of things we can do for dates with no one watching." Kakashi smirked once more and said while burying his face in the base of her neck, "I know of one thing we can do with no one watching." His hand made its way up Lina's shirt before she managed to swat it away laughing.

"Hey! I said no!"

"But Lina-chaaan!"

Lina was quickly realizing that Kakashi tended to sweet talk by calling her '-chan', but she held her ground. Pushing him away, she sat up and said, "Nope. Not until I get my date. Don't you find it odd that we've had sex but we haven't even gone out, and you say that we're together?"

Kakashi sat up and sighed. "What can I say? I'm not the conventional type. I didn't peg you to be one either."

Lina shook her head. "I'm not, but that's exactly why we should! I mean, come on. Is a date really that bad?"

"Well, no, but it's just that I'd rather…"

"...stay in bed and do other stuff, I know." Lina finished for him, smiling. She tried to get up, but found her muscles, having relaxed, were now a little too relaxed, and she couldn't hold up her arms without shaking. Groaning in discomfort and tingling, Lina sat back down on the couch, rubbing her arms. Kakashi immediately moved up beside her and wrapped one arm around her shoulders and pulled her onto his chest, rubbing her arms soothingly.

"Feeling the tingling?"

Lina nodded, hiding her face in his chest and moaning as he slowly massaged her arms. "Yeah, what is that? I didn't feel it with Water style."

Kakashi nodded. "You wouldn't. With Water style, you felt like your whole body was compressing down, right?" Lina nodded, and Kakashi continued. "Each nature has it's own side effects that comes with overuse. With Water, you felt compressed, like the weight of the ocean is bearing down on you. With Lightning, the electricity of the chakra burns through your arms, with Earth you feel heavy and weighted, Fire you feel burned and your hands singe, and with Wind you feel like you had thousands of tiny cuts all over your arms. Since you didn't work with Wind a lot, you may not have experienced that last one."

Lina shook her head. "I did. Especially while I was working on my wind storm, although it was not quite as strong as you described."

Kakashi nodded and continued rubbing her arms. "Well, at least you know you're doing it right. Otherwise you wouldn't feel the soreness."

Lina snorted. "Small comfort."

Kakashi chuckled and gently lifted her up, carrying her into the bedroom and laying her carefully on the bed. Turning away, he made a shadow clone and sent it away before turning back and rubbing her arms. Lina watched the shadow-Kakashi disappear out of the room before asking, "What's he doing?"

"Getting you a couple of hot packs to relax your muscles." Lina sighed in relief, already feeling the tension in her muscles start to ebb away as she thought of how good it would feel. Moments later, the clone-Kakashi came in, carrying 4 hot packs, and placed them on her arms, going up to her shoulders.

"Close your eyes and rest for a bit. Your body regains chakra and strength faster when you're asleep." The original Kakashi said, and Lina nodded. The two Kakashi's lay beside her watching her and holding her hands until she fell asleep.

Kakashi watched Lina close her eyes slowly, her smile slowly decreasing into a peaceful look, and he looked up at his clone. Speaking in a soft voice to not wake her, he said, "Go tell Kurenai that Lina's staying here for today, and possibly tonight depending on how she feels when she wakes up, and tell her not to worry." The clone nodded and body flickered away, leaving the original to adjust Lina's sleeping position so that she was under the covers, hot packs still weighing down her arms. When he was finished, he softly kissed her forehead and silently walked out of the room, leaving her to sleep.

-end

Author's Note: So this chapter ended up being another bit of a love fest, definitely a change from previous chapters, eh? That whole nature chakra having its own side effects thing was my own spin on how nature chakra would work. So, aside from the bit of training, and lovely sweetness back in Kakashi's apartment, nothing else really happened. But I really loved writing it, imagining Kakashi being all sweet and caring just made me smile. Of course, there was the pervyness, but that's nothing new (well, except probably in this story lol). Oooh, and is Lina going to get her date? XD if Kakashi doesn't make her forget, that is =.= Knowing him, he might just completely breeze past the situation and just torment her with dangling himself in front of her like bait until she cracks LOL. But, you'll have to wait till the next chapter to find out! ;)

P.S. Next chapter's a really long one. Hope you enjoy it! It'll be up in a couple of days. 4 at the max.

P.P.S. So sorry for the delay in sending this out! I was so caught up writing the next chapter that I didn't put this one up, please forgive me! But oh my God the next one is crazy-long, and lots and lots of Kaka-Lina, plus some conflict, so that's always a good change of pace. But I really am sorry, guys!


	20. Chapter 20

**Something I wanted to mention, just cuz it's somewhat relevant to the story: right after the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime, the Pain arc starts. Now, I personally want to develop more of the Lina/Kakashi/rest of the gang's relationships, so I'm stretching the time frame just a bit. Pain invasion won't come for a few chapters.**

As always, please review, comment, write something! I'm dying to know what you guys think. Ja ne! ;)

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. I do, however, own any original ideas or characters (such as Sasaki Lina) that I have created.

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Sasaki Lina is 29. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: **the Pain arc is still going to happen, I'm making Sasuke come back too, but Shinobi Alliance arc is still going to happen, as well as anything that didn't directly involve him in the anime/manga.** I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?) Enjoy!

_**PLEASE REVIEW! COMMENT, ANYTHING! THANKS :D**_

**Okay, so this chapter is the reason why the last one was so late. I wanted to finish this one before I posted that one, but it ended up dragging waaaaaaay too long. Anyway, here it is, and yes, I know that it is way too long, but I hope you like it. Anyway, enjoy! As always, please review, comment, write something! Even if you PM me, that would be good too :) Thanks!

Chapter 20

Lina awoke in the early evening, to the delicious aroma of miso soup. Sitting up, she looked around the room, and immediately recognized it as Kakashi's. She took a moment to recollect how she'd got there, before she tried to get out of bed. She'd just swung her legs over the side when she heard Kakashi pad towards the door from outside the room. Looking up, she saw Kakashi (mask-less, since he was at home) open the door, carrying a steaming bowl of miso soup.

Kakashi came into the room, immediately noticing that Lina was awake, and smiled, setting down the bowl. "Good morning, sleepy head. How do you feel?" Lina smiled back, piling the previously-hot packs in one pile and off her arms. "Much better, thanks. How long was I out?"

"A few hours, its just about 6 now." Lina bolted out of the bed. "Six?!" Kakashi quickly grabbed her and restrained her, pushing her back down on the bed. "Sit. Eat. I told Kurenai that you'll be staying here for today, so will you relax already?" Lina sat down, pouting and blushing at the teasingly annoyed tone in Kakashi's voice.

"I can't help it, I worry."

Kakashi laughed and nodded. "I know. Here, drink the soup." Now that she was able to lift her arms without shaking, Lina leaned towards the bedside table and inhaled the delicious smell. Sighing, she picked up the spoon and took a mouthful, humming in delight as she swallowed, savoring the taste of miso, the soft lightness of tofu, and the earthy yet not muddy flavor of seaweed. "Mmm...so good. Did you make it?"

Kakashi nodded his head, scratching the back of his neck embarrassedly. "Yeah."

"It's really good!"

"Thank you. You know I love miso soup, so its kind of natural that I learned to make it right?"

Lina nodded. "Very true."

They sat like that, Lina drinking her soup and Kakashi watching her. Lina finished the soup quickly, but wasn't filled yet. Shyly, she looked up at Kakashi, biting her lip. "Kakashi, do you have any more? I'm sorry, I'm really hungry."

Kakashi chuckled and pulled her up, his arm around her waist for support. "Yeah, I have more. Come on, let's go into the kitchen." Carefully, they walked into the kitchen, Kakashi guiding her carefully, almost too carefully.

"Kakashi, you know I'm all better now, right? I'm not pregnant." Lina laughed lightly, and Kakashi choked on air, surprised, before shaking his head at Lina's apparent amusement.

They soon arrived in the kitchen, and Lina sat down. Kakashi went to put her another bowl of soup, but not before Lina snagged his arm and pulled him to her, grabbing the front of his shirt to bring his face closer. Smiling up at him, Lina sweetly kissed Kakashi, softly probing her tongue into his mouth, loving how his came out to meet hers, entangling and dancing together. Releasing from the kiss, Lina pulled back, a string of saliva connecting the two moist mouths. Lina looked into Kakashi's eyes, and said as softly as she'd kissed, "Thank you. For everything."

Kakashi looked down at Lina, not quite understanding what he was being thanked for, but he smiled back. Softly pecking her lips, only to allow it to evolve into him biting and pulling on her bottom lip, Kakashi showed his emotions without speaking, telling Lina how happy he was. True, they had only been 'official' for yesterday and today, but he already felt incredibly attached to her. And true, there were many things he didn't know about her, but at the same time there were many things _she_ didn't know about_ him_. What he did know, was that he _wanted _to know more. He wanted to be the one who knew the most about her. The good, the bad, the ugly, all of it.

He knew, as a shinobi, it was a given that there would be some ugly parts about her past, some quirks that were unique to her. Hell, he probably had many more issues than most shinobi his age. Of course, it was kind of a given, considering how early he'd become a jounin, and then entering ANBU so soon after. So he felt that, he of all people would understand her. After all, she'd been so broken that she'd left the village at the age of 17, and stayed away until she was 29. He knew that kind of pain. He had been strong enough (if you could call it strength) to suppress it and build up walls, but he clearly remembered how hurt he'd been, how defenseless and weak he'd felt. And to a shinobi, that was one of the worst feelings anyone could have, weakness. You spent your whole life training to get stronger; to feel weak was like taking all that time and rewriting history as if it never existed. He wanted to know why, who had hurt her so badly that she'd abandoned her family, her village, her friends. And he wanted to be the one to heal her, because he could see that she was slowly healing him, by breaking down his walls, making him consider her in ways he had never considered people since he'd been labelled a 'genius'. She was making him remember what it meant to be human.

"Mmm…" Lina softly gave an appreciative noise as she gave herself up to the feeling of Kakashi nibbling on her lip. Bringing her hands up, she kept his head steady against hers, and rose out of the chair, gently pushing him into it and sitting on top of his lap, allowing the kiss to grow stronger. Just then, Lina's stomach growled and rumbled, making the two break away and look down in surprise. Kakashi tried to muffle his laugh with his hands but Lina still shot him a mildly annoyed look. She got up and headed for the fridge, and paused, her hand on the handle.

"May I?" Lina didn't want to intrude, which was laughable, considering how relaxed they were with each other, but her manners were something hammered into her by her mother, and they weren't easily tampered with.

Kakashi looked up and nodded, "Sure."

Lina opened the fridge and peered in. Immediately, she noticed that he didn't have much. A half carton of eggs, some takeout Styrofoam cups, and a half-bag of apples. Behind the takeout, Lina found milk and juice. But other than that, the fridge was empty. She looked towards the stove, and saw a pot of miso soup, although it seemed that there really was only one portion left. She decided to leave the rest for Kakashi, and went back into the fridge.

Looking back at Kakashi over her shoulder, she said, "You really should stock up on food. What if we suddenly have a freak storm or something, and you need to camp out at home? You'd never survive off of this stuff."

Kakashi shrugged. Truth be told, he was so stingy and forgetful about money (among other things), a lethal combination especially in him, that he tended to wait until poor unsuspecting souls like Lina came and bought him food. Otherwise, he'd mooch off of his friends and of course teammates, as he was notoriously known for.

Lina shook her head before taking an apple. She bit into it, taking a large chunk into her mouth (or, what she thought was a large chunk), chewing and storing the fruit in both her cheeks. Kakashi chuckled as he watched Lina chew, and she shot him a questioning look.

"You take such tiny bites, yet your mouth is stuffed so full. You look like a chipmunk."

Lina looked down at the apple and back up. "Thatwas a _big_ bite." she protested, but Kakashi shook his head. Getting up, he took the apple from her and bit down, taking out half the apple.

"Now THAT is a big bite." He said as he chewed one-sidedly.

Lina stared up at him in shock before she said, "Hey! That's my apple you're scarfing down!"

Kakashi twinkled his eye and shook his head lightly, still chewing. "Actually, it's _my_ apple."

Lina pouted, and Kakashi couldn't resist. Bending down, he kissed her deeply, slowly prodding his mouthful of apple into her mouth. When he was done, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and said, "There. There's your apple. Happy?" He'd meant for her to be annoyed and yell at him some more (he loved teasing people to the brink of insanity), so he was surprised when she just looked at him, unfazed.

Lina blankly chewed their combined mixture, slowly tasting him and her combining in her mouth. Finally, she swallowed, and smiled. "Yum." She winked at Kakashi, who just chuckled. Finding that he still had the half eaten apple, he looked at Lina and asked, "Do you want this?"

Lina nodded. "Of course, I'm still starving." Kakashi smirked and said, "Open up." Lina blushed, and slowly and shyly shook her head. Kakashi just raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so you_ don't_ want it?"

Lina pouted. "Fine I'll just get another one." She turned to open the fridge again, but Kakashi was too fast. He slammed his hand on the door and pushed it shut again, preventing Lina from getting her goal.

Wagging a finger, he said, "Uh uh uh~. You only get this apple. Take it or leave it."

Lina pouted again, thwarted, but she didn't give up. Giving Kakashi her best pleading face, better than the one she'd given Naruto earlier today, Lina stared up at Kakashi, gently stroking his arm and whining in a candy sweet voice. "Kakashi kuuun...please give me the apple?"

Kakashi just stared at her, not sure if he should be appalled at her lack of persuasive skills or if she'd meant for it to be so ridiculous. "Lina, I'm a jounin. I used to be an ANBU shinobi. Do you seriously think I'll fall so easily?"

Lina puffed up her cheeks with air and thought. And then, she got it. To fight a pervert, even a jounin pervert, there really was only one way to win.

Walking up behind Kakashi, Lina slowly trailed her fingers up and down his arms, lightly pressing, but just barely there. When nothing happened, Lina moved onto his back. Reaching into his shirt, Lina carefully traced down each vertebrae of his spine. This had some effect, Lina smirked, as Kakashi shivered under her touch. Wrapping her arms around his body, linking in the front, Lina carefully placed her breasts strategically on his lower back, slowly rolling her upper body into him as she trailed her arms up and down his smooth chest.

"Lina, this isn't going to work." Kakashi's slightly strained voice came out, and Lina smiled in triumph.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She purred, not stopping her motions. "Sit down facing the back of the chair."

Kakashi, who was starting to become agitated, did as he was told, his arms leaning on the top of the backbone of the chair. Lina brought her hands down to the hem of his shirt and slowly lifted it up, bending herself down to kiss his side softly, knowing that it was a mildly to extremely tickle-prone area. Sure enough, Lina felt Kakashi shiver over and over as she kissed him, once even letting out a soft 'oh'.

She brought the shirt up and over his head with one arm, the other exploring and remembering all the muscles underneath. Kissing up the back of his shoulder, Lina softly bit down into the soft spot on his neck, not enough to leave a mark, swirling her tongue around the skin enclosed in her mouth.

Kakashi dropped his head forward as Lina slowly stripped him of his shirt, the apple hanging loosely in his hand. When she bit down on his neck, he arched his back, throwing his head backwards with a low groan. He vaguely felt something be removed from his hand, but he was too dazed to notice. At least, until he felt Lina suddenly disappear. Looking backwards, he saw Lina standing with one hand on her hip, the other holding the trophy (the apple) to her mouth. With a grin, Lina chomped down before saying "Gai vwing (I win)".

Kakashi glared at her for a moment before he got up and turned around, sitting on the chair normally. Grabbing Lina's arm, he pulled her down until she was sitting between his legs across his lap. Kissing her soundly on the mouth, he roughly whispered, "And people call _Ibiki_ the sadist?" Lina giggled up at him, her arm around his neck to keep from falling back. Pecking him on the cheek, she got up and made to sit on a separate chair, wanting to finish her apple. But Kakashi wasn't about to let her go that easily, so he quickly sat down on the chair she'd been about to sit on, and Lina found herself sitting on top of Kakashi's lap, confused.

"Wha-"

Kakashi turned her head towards him and kissed her again, heat radiating from his upper body as he held her, frowning when he felt her struggle in his arms. Finally he let her go with a protesting sound coming from both of them, but for different reasons.

"Kakashi, I need a shower!"

Kakashi looked into Lina's eyes and smirked. "I told you before that I liked it dirty, didn't I?"

Lina rolled her eyes and sighed. "No way, Kakashi, I smell awful. Oh God, your poor bed. I'm so sorry!" Kakashi chuckled as he pulled her back to him, deliberately exposing and licking a shoulder. Lina shivered under him, closing her eyes as she felt him lick her again.

"Mmm, yummy." Kakashi grinned into the shoulder before he continued swirling his tongue around the skin. Lina continued trembling under his touch, her face heating up and her breath growing deeper and more rapid. She felt him move her hair out of the way, licking up her neck and earlobe, making her giggle and squirm as Kakashi's tongue tickled her. Turning her face towards him, Lina brought her hands up to his face and kissed him deeply, the core of the apple falling to the floor with a thud that neither of them noticed.

Lina felt Kakashi trace his tongue around the outlines of her lips, and willingly opened up for him, moaning and drawing closer to him as he pushed his tongue into her mouth, nudging hers into action. Slowly, they swirled around each other, feeling and tasting each other before moving into the other's mouth, retracing familiar paths before they came back to meet in a swirling heat of muscle. As they continued doing this, both Lina and Kakashi felt each other draw closer and closer together, their arms wrapped tightly around each other. When they finally broke apart, they could see the intensity in the other's eyes, and for a moment, neither spoke.

"So, umm, yeah. I-I hate to eat and run, b-but I should go. Thanks again, for letting me sleep, and eat. I'll see you around?" Lina stammered through her goodbye as she tried to get up but Kakashi wouldn't let her go.

"Oh, no you don't. You're not leaving like that."

"What do you mean?"

"You can't just say 'I'll see you around' to your boyfriend. Besides…I think you should spend the night." Kakashi burrowed his face into the crook of Lina's neck, inhaling her scent. Lina unconsciously brought her hands up into his hair, gently petting it as she leaned her head back to give him more room.

"Mmmm, Kakashi, you _do_ remember what I said earlier about my not putting out, don't you?"

Kakashi groaned inwardly, hoping she'd forgotten. Kissing his way up Lina's neck to the edge of her jaw, he softly said, "You remembered that, huh?"

Lina giggled as she felt him nibble at her jaw, scrunching up her shoulders and tucking her head down as it tickled. Using one hand to lift Kakashi's lips up to meet hers, she sweetly whispered, "Oh yeah. And I meant it too." before she pecked him lightly and pulling away. She smiled as she heard him make a protesting sound, but in the next moment almost regretted not moving away fast enough, as he wrapped his arms around her once more. The feel of his arms holding her was so perfect, as if their two bodies were meant to be together, and it had her melting into him once more as she began to lose her will to go.

Immediately picking up on this, Kakashi tightened his arms around her and tucked her head under his chin. He smiled as he felt Lina sink into him, melting like butter and folding her arms into his chest as she inhaled his scent.

"Mmm…Kakashi, I really should go…"

"Come on Lina, stay. You know you want to." Kakashi used his index finger to run it up and down her jaw line, gently caressing her as he cradled her. Lina hummed as Kakashi continued to touch her softly, her resolve slowly slipping away. Finally, she sighed in content and nodded.

"Fine, I'll stay. But no sex. And I really do need a shower."

Kakashi grinned and brought her head up to kiss her, saying softly, "Deal." Lina looked up at him smiling before she nuzzled back into his chest, breathing out a sigh.

"Mm Kakashi, can we move this to the couch? It's getting a little uncomfortable." Lina spoke into Kakashi's chest, her hands trailing over his bare muscles. She felt him nod, and was suddenly picked up, her legs around his waist and her arms on his neck.

They moved into the living room area, and Kakashi carefully sat down, feeling Lina shift her weight so that her body was more comfortably curled into his. Kissing him lightly on his shoulder, Lina stroked his still bare chest with her hand, wrapping her other arm around his back as she folded her legs over his own. She felt Kakashi bring his hand to her thigh, gently stroking it up and down soothingly through her pants, and she turned her head into him, smiling. Relaxed, they stayed in place for a long time, just feeling the warmth off each other.

Finally, Lina decided it was time she took a bath, so she slowly pushed herself up, softly kissing Kakashi on the lips as she came up.

"I'm going to go take a shower. Do you mind lending me some clothes?"

Kakashi reached out to stroke her arm as he teasingly said, "Want me to come in?" Lina, now fully standing, smiled as she looked down at him.

"I'd love that. But, I think that might ruin the whole 'no sex' deal, don't you?"

"Aww come on, how about just a little?" Kakashi brought his other hand up, softly pulling at her wrists to bring her back to him, but Lina stood firm.

"A little what? A little sex? How exactly does one go about having a _little_ sex?" Lina laughed as she batted Kakashi's hands away. Kakashi got up and pulled her towards him, smirking.

"Well, there are lots of things we could do that aren't sex. If you want, I could show you a couple of them." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively as Lina laughingly pushed him away.

"Oh my God, what have I done? This is what I get for dating one of the biggest perverts of Konoha."

"Oh come on, don't pretend to be all innocent with me. You forget that I've seen your Icha Icha. We both know that there's an inner pervert inside you too, just waiting to be let out." Kakashi poked her sides, making Lina yelp in surprise and squirm in his arms as he chuckled. Lina giggled and squirmed into Kakashi, unable to do anything to get away from his poking and teasing.

"Ahh, Kakashi, stop it! Eep, _stop_!"

Finally, Kakashi stopped teasing her, and held her tight as both of their breaths evened out. When Lina was able to breath normally again, she reached up to tap Kakashi on the nose softly. Looking down, he saw her beckon him downwards, so he followed her finger. As soon as he was low enough, Lina stood up on her tippy-toes and flung her arms around his neck, sealing his mouth in a soft kiss. He wrapped his arms around her hips, before playfully grabbing her butt. He smiled into the kiss as he felt Lina lurch into him, her arms tightening around him as she let out a small giggle.

They broke apart, and Lina smilingly said, "Alright, now time for my shower. Do you mind just putting the clothes on the counter?"

Kakashi nodded and softly kissed her forehead. "You sure I can't go in there with you?"

Lina shook her head, rolling her eyes. "No, Kakashi."

"But-" Kakashi started to whine again, his hands already wandering back up her body.

"_No_, Kakashi! Self-control. Delayed gratification is the definition of maturity, come on." Lina lightly pushed away, just barely managing to ignore the adorable pout on Kakashi's face that made her want to run back up to him and kiss him silly. She walked towards the bathroom, and closed the door but didn't lock it behind her.

As Lina stood in the shower, letting the hot water wash over her, she closed her eyes and thought about Kakashi. She smiled as she thought about everything. That first night, the morning after, the way they just fell together perfectly, like they were magnets that were never meant to be separated. As she remembered, she slowly began washing her hair, only to remember how Kakashi had washed her, how he'd held her in this washroom just yesterday. Lina felt her face heat up as she remembered how he'd looked, water pouring down his taut body, hair flattened and head bent down to look at her under the stream of water. She could almost feel his arms around her again, like they had been just moments ago, in the kitchen and the living room.

Just as she was picturing Kakashi's arms around her, his teeth nibbling at her jaw, Lina's sharp ears picked up the door opening. Peering through the now translucent glass shower door from all the steam, Lina vaguely made out Kakashi setting down a pile of clothes on the counter beside the sink. Raising her voice above the sound of the water, Lina called out, "Thanks!" before turning back to finish rinsing her hair.

Moments later, she felt a sudden cool breeze from behind her, and let out a gasp when she heard the shower door open. Spinning around, she saw Kakashi climbing in, fully naked, with only a knowing smirk on his face.

"Kakashi! What are you doing in here?"

"You said I couldn't do anything, but you didn't say I couldn't watch." Kakashi folded his arms over his chest, openly looking her up and down, to which Lina immediately attempted to cover herself up with her hands.

"Kakashi!"

"You know," Kakashi walked towards her. "I don't understand why you still feel the need to hide from me. There's nothing I haven't seen on your body." He stopped in front of her, not touching, but just staring so intensely that Lina couldn't take it anymore.

With an exasperated sigh, she pulled him down, saying "Oh come here, you big jerk." before she kissed him under the water, very annoyed with herself when she felt Kakashi grin into the kiss. Just before finishing the kiss, Lina harshly bit down on his lip, making him jump back slightly, hand over his mouth.

"Ow!"

"That's what you get for playing with me." Lina pouted at his chest, avoiding eye contact. She heard Kakashi snort before he lifted her face up to meet his. Kissing her lightly, he said, "I'm not going to apologize, but does that make it better?"

Lina swallowed but still frowned slightly. "A little. But not much."

Kakashi chuckled and bent down to kiss her again, pulling her deeply against him as he dropped several sweet kisses on her mouth before slowly deepening them, at the same time moving Lina backwards until she was pressed flush against the shower wall. Taking her hands from around his neck, Kakashi placed them over Lina's head against the wall, intertwining his fingers in hers. He heard her hum into the kiss, and he slowly rolled his lips into hers, making her hum again. Finally releasing her mouth, Kakashi kissed his way down her neck to her collarbone, still not letting go of her hands above her head. As he nibbled on Lina's collarbone, he felt her jolt upwards and moan, her fingers clenching his tightly as she wordlessly asked for more. Smiling wryly, Kakashi moved down further, until he was breathing on one of her breasts, watching them rise and fall with her breathing.

Lina felt Kakashi's breaths on her breast as the water flowing down her body was stimulated by the air puffs. She waited impatiently, her hands still caged under his own. Finally, Lina opened her eyes to look down at Kakashi, finding him staring at her breasts hungrily.

"Kakashi, let me go." Immediately, Kakashi's face snapped up at Lina's voice, which was quiet but serious. Seeing her expression, he let her hands go, staying hovered over her chest as he looked up at her warily.

"Wha-MMFGH!" Kakashi was cut off as Lina pushed him down, kissing him as she instinctively wrapped her hands around his head and neck to shield him from the fall as they collapsed onto the bathtub floor. She winced as the back of her hands hit the edge of the bathtub and part of the shower door, but she continued kissing him, not caring in the slightest. Releasing Kakashi, Lina softly said, "And that's how you do it. No waiting, no staring, just do it."

Kakashi stared up at her for a moment before he smiled cheekily. "Lesson learned." Lina grinned down at him and said, "Good." before bending back down to kiss him. She felt his hand come up to touch her breasts, but she pulled back, placing her hands on his chest to give some space between them.

"Mmm, Kakashi stop."

"Oh you have got to be kidding. You want me to stop, _now?_" Kakashi said exasperatedly, and Lina nodded.

"Yeah, I do."

"No!" He pulled her back towards him, intent on continuing where they'd left off, but Lina pushed away.

"No, Kakashi. I said no before, and I meant it."

"But Lina, why not? It's not like it isn't good." Kakashi was beginning to get slightly angry, annoyed that he had to actually wheedle her into sleeping with him.

"That's not it. It's...it's complicated. Anyway, can we not talk about this right now? I'd like you to get out so I can finish taking my shower, and then-"

"No. I want to know right now, why you are so stuck on not sleeping with me. What is wrong with wanting to sleep with someone I want, when I know you want it too?" Kakashi's voice hardened as he looked up at her.

As Lina looked down at him, her face darkened, but she remained soft. Slowly, she turned off the water before she turned back towards him, still sitting on his lap. Holding his face in her hands, she gently said, "I _care_ about you, Kakashi. You're not just a one-night fuck or whatever this is. You said you're my boyfriend, but I have no way of knowing if you feel the same way about me, and I just...I don't want to be the type of girl who has a relationship on the basis of sex, you know? I mean, I don't want to be known as the girl who doesn't even wait before she puts out. I'm not that girl, I'm not. And I really actually care about _you_, and I want more. I want a relationship, with you. But at the same time, you're, you're…" Lina trailed off, her head bowed as she felt her heart constrict in her chest.

Kakashi watched her face scrunch up as she fought her own thoughts inside her head. He gently lifted her head up and asked, "But what?"

Lina pulled away, bowing her head once more, and whispered in a voice so low that Kakashi actually had to heighten his hearing to hear it. "You're only my second relationship, if that's even what you can call this, this, _thing_ between us, and I don't want to screw it up." Taking in a deep breath, Lina looked into Kakashi's open eye and continued.

"So, Kakashi, what are we? You said that we are together, in a relationship. Well, right now we're not really much more than friends with benefits, if we were even friends to begin with, and I want more. Kakashi, tell me what you want, because I'm not going to stay here and hurt myself if all you want is a warm body next to you. I know we've only just started this, but if you're that insistent on sex, and you seem that unwilling to go out and actually do something else, I don't know if I can be with you." Lina was practically pleading, looking anywhere but at Kakashi. Towards the end, she knew she was starting to ramble, so she clamped her mouth shut and waited. She waited for his response, desperately swallowing the lump in her throat that seemed to keep resurfacing after each swallow, leading to an endless cycle. How did the night turn so serious in mere moments?

Kakashi's stomach clenched as he heard her words, and without a word, he gathered her in his arms, berating himself in his head as he felt her tremble like a leaf in his arms. They sat there on the bathtub floor, Lina shaking violently in Kakashi's arms as she fought back tears, and Kakashi holding her against him, not saying anything.

While suppressing her tears as much as possible, Lina suddenly felt a tickle in her nose. Quickly, she fought her way out of Kakashi's arms, and turned away just in time. "Achoo!" She sneezed loudly, sniffling with her face turned away. "Ugh, sorry." Lina felt Kakashi wrap his arms around her waist and drag her back onto his lap, putting his hand over her head to place it on his chest. Suddenly, she noticed that water was pooling on the floor and she lifted her head up, looking around.

"Why is-"

"I turned on the bath function. Relax." Kakashi soothingly said, and Lina placed her head on his chest again, laying her hands on it too. They could each feel the other's heart beating, Kakashi's steady and strong as Lina's was fast and erratic. For a long time, neither spoke.

"Kakashi?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry. I know I'm being selfish, and I know you have needs, so I'm sorry." Lina felt the lump in her throat get bigger as she lied through her teeth, but she didn't want to lose him. She felt Kakashi sigh heavily, and for a moment her heart sunk to the bottom of her stomach as she thought she'd made it worse.

About to pull back, she stopped when she heard Kakashi say, "No, Lina. I shouldn't have pushed you when you said no. I...want you."

Lina pulled back to look at Kakashi, elated, only to see the guilt in his open eye as he immediately saw that she had been about to cry.

"Y-you do?"

Kakashi pulled her back into his chest, tucking her head under his chin and said, "Yeah, I do. I don't just want a fuck. I want...I want more too." He felt Lina gasp quietly into his chest, and his arms tightened around her. Lina struggled against him slightly, wanting to get a good look at him, to make sure this was real. When she saw his face, she saw the guilt still in his eyes, and her heart warmed. Tentatively, she said, "So...are we okay?" Kakashi looked up into her worried expression and nodded just as tentatively. Lina flung her arms around Kakashi, hugging him tightly, and he could feel her heart beating so fast against her chest. Carefully, he wrapped his own arms around her. He felt Lina pull back yet again, and saw her bite her lip, her eyes darting all over the place.

"Then…"

Kakashi turned her head towards him and asked, "What?"

Lina looked at him and breathed in deeply before she asked hesitantly, "Can I kiss you?"

Kakashi froze for a second before he pulled her towards him, kissing her deeply. Pulling back, he leaned his forehead against hers and said, "Always." Lina, eyes still closed after the kiss, smiled and nodded, craning her head up to kiss him again. And again. And again.

"Hey, Lina?"

"Mmm." Lina sunk her head into the crook of his neck, just barely listening.

"We _are_ still in a bath. And you _did_ say you needed to wash. Since I'm here, how about I help you out?"

Lina pulled back to look at Kakashi. Seeing his nervousness reflected in his charcoal eye, Lina smiled and kissed him chastely before she nodded. "That sounds really good. But um..."

"But what?" Kakashi asked gently. Lina looked around the bathtub and then back at Kakashi. "It's just that the bathtub just filled."

Kakashi looked down to noticed that she was right, which would probably explain the warmth and wet sensations he felt. Quirking up a smile, Kakashi said, "Then how about we stay like this till the water gets cold, and THEN we finish washing up?"

Lina grinned at him and slipped closer on his lap, gently sloshing the now full bathtub. As she hung her arms around Kakashi's neck, Lina couldn't help but think how lucky she was that he was so understanding, and that he felt the same way as she did. Kissing Kakashi on the cheek, Lina hugged him close. "Thank you, Kakashi. For understanding. I really do appreciate it."

Kakashi held her, kissing the crook of her neck. "I want more too. I'm just not used to this." He felt Lina nod into him, and Kakashi relaxed into the water.

XXX

Slowly, they both felt the water cool around them, and Lina and Kakashi began to stir. He unplugged the bathtub, allowing the water to flow down the drain as he picked up the two bottles of shampoo and body wash and placed them on the newly resurfaced floor. Pumping out some body wash, Kakashi reached for Lina's arms, slowly lathering both of them up with each of his hands. As he travelled up to her shoulders, Lina slowly wrapped an arm around Kakashi's neck, using her other hand to pump out some body wash for him.

Keeping her arm hooked on his neck, Lina languidly kissed him, rubbing the soap on his chest with her hand, moaning softly as she felt him move down to her chest. Her hand around his neck travelled to the side of his face, and Lina gently cupped it as she dropped feather-soft kisses on his lips and cheeks, every so often catching his lips in hers and pulling lightly. Kakashi watched her kiss him through his lashes, his hands working their way down her front before moving onto her back. He saw Lina's face begin to drop as his hands travelled down the indent of her spine, and he tenderly kissed her forehead and nose before bending down to capture her lips once more. Vaguely, he felt his hands and hers both fumble around for the bottle of soap before they finally reached it and returned to their spots on the other's body.

Finished with her upper body, Kakashi slowly unravelled himself from Lina, and gently lay her against the back of the bathtub. "Don't move." Starting from her toes, Kakashi slowly lathered up her lower body, massaging along the way, his eye staring into Lina's. They held their stares as he travelled upwards, from her calf to her knee, up to her thigh, until he finally reached her hip, making sure to keep himself away from her nether regions. Then, beginning again, Kakashi started back at her toes of the other foot, a corner of his lips quirking up when he saw her close her eyes and lean her head back to rest against the wall.

Lina relaxed as she felt Kakashi slowly lather her up with soap. She'd never, in her whole life, imagined that taking a bath, and not even touching 'that area', could wind her up so much. As she watched Kakashi stare up at her as he massaged the soap into her leg, Lina could practically feel the electricity between them. She closed her eyes when she felt him move onto her other leg, but as he drew upwards, she opened her eyes and reached towards him. Pulling him to her, Lina's eyes briefly wander down his body, smirking slightly as she saw that the soap was hardly a contrast against Kakashi's creamy-white skin.

"What?" Kakashi murmured into the kiss, having noticed Lina's smile just before contact.

Lina shook her head slightly, suddenly thinking about a minor scene from Icha Icha Paradise that would go very well with Kakashi's skin. "Nothing. Do you happen to have any chocolate syrup or sauce or something?"

Kakashi pulled back to look at her oddly. "Craving?"

Lina smiled, trying to restrain it so that she didn't look crazy, and shook her head. "No, never mind." But Kakashi's interest was piqued, and so he softly licked the shell of her ear, whispering "Tell me."

Lina giggled and squirmed under him, but shook her head. "It's nothing!"

"Mhm, then just tell me."

"No."

"Lina…"

"Nooo…"

"Come on, give me a hint." Kakashi ran his fingertips up and down her side, slightly pressing down to tickle her, smiling into her cheek when it worked.

"No! Ack, stop that! Ahh_ Kakashi_! Come on, it's your turn now, sit down." Lina tried to wiggle away, but Kakashi held her tight, or as tight as possible, with two very soapy bodies.

"Uh uh. Tell me why you were asking about chocolate syrup." Lina sighed, and immediately came up with a lie. "I told you it was nothing! I just wanted to know, because I like pancakes for breakfast."

Kakashi looked down at her, surprised. "Oh. Sorry, I thou-wait hang on. You're lying." Lina immediately froze in his arms for a second before she forced herself to relax. "What? No I'm not."

"Yes you are. Okay, now I _really_ want to know. Just tell me!" Looking at Kakashi's mischievously grinning face, she knew she would never win, so Lina frowned at her defeat and sighed heavily, not pleased.

"Fine. But can we finish up here first? I'd rather tell you when I'm fully dressed and in the bedroom." Kakashi nodded and reached over to turn on the shower function. Carefully, he helped Lina up and they stood under the spray, relaxing in the heat. Lina beckoned Kakashi down to her, and kissed him softly, smiling as she felt him place his hands on her hip and pull her towards him.

XXX

After finally rinsing away all the soap between the two, Lina and Kakashi stepped out of the shower/bathtub, quickly wrapping themselves in towels and drying off. As Lina's clothes were all dirty and sweat-soaked from the training (even if the sweat was now dried), Kakashi had lent her a shirt and pants. But, as Lina looked down at the shirt she now wore and then up at Kakashi, who was fighting a laugh that was threatening to come out, she handed him back the pants and said, "I don't think I need these."

Kakashi looked her up and down, and let out a snort of laughter. He'd known that she was small, but damn! The sleeves had to be rolled up to the elbows and the bottom hem of the shirt rested just above her knees. Being just a touch above average in height, increased slightly with his gravity-defying hair which made him look taller than he was, Kakashi felt like a giant compared to Lina, especially after seeing her wear his clothes. But as he was thinking this, Kakashi remembered that he was still on a mission. Scooping her up, Kakashi carried Lina into the bedroom, ignoring the squeak and 'let me down!'s, until he finally deposited her on the middle of the bed, his arms and legs caging her in under him.

"Lina, isn't there something you wanted to tell me now that we're in the bedroom?" Kakashi said, deepening his voice intensely. Lina visibly gulped, but she shook her head and deadpanned. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Lina…" Kakashi said warningly, and Lina blushed deeply, furrowing her eyebrows and biting her lip. She knew that Kakashi wouldn't find her bizarre, but she was nervous all the same. She'd never told anyone any of her _naughtier_ thoughts, and she was nervous that it might be too soon, given her minor confession in the bathtub just minutes earlier. But at the same time, they'd already had sex, for heaven's sake! She might as well take the plunge, right? She closed her eyes for a moment, preparing herself before she finally nodded her head.

"Fine." She sat up and raised her knees so that she could curl her arms around them, as Kakashi sat next to her, waiting. "Well, do you remember that scene in Icha Icha Paradise volume 1, where Ichigo and Azuma spend the weekend locked inside a pastry shop? And things get a little hot and heavy with the whipped cream? Well, imagine the whipped cream is chocolate syrup, and you're the one with it drizzled all over you, and I'm the one l-licking it off...and then you'll have what I was thinking about." Lina's voice dropped lower and lower and she slowly dropped her head into her knees, her face burning with embarrassment. Her ears were ringing with the amount of blood currently in her face, but she still heard Kakashi's next words.

"Are you telling me that you were thinking licking chocolate sauce off of me while we were in the bath just now?"

Folding her arms and burying her face in them, Lina nodded, unable to look at him.

Kakashi stared down at Lina, seeing her ears burn red with embarrassment, and his face split into a wide grin. When he'd asked her the question, he'd never thought she'd respond with_ this_! Grabbing Lina's wrists, Kakashi pulled her towards him, catching her face in his hands as he let go of her arms, and kissed her deeply before seductively asking, "So you have those kinds of thoughts about me, huh?" Lina turned away, her face flaming red as she looked anywhere but at Kakashi.

Not quite finished yet, he crawled towards her and ran his fingers down her arm, asking "Do you have any other _naughty_ thoughts about me?"

Lina stared at him in surprise before she blushed even deeper and turned away with a very small 'no'. But Kakashi wasn't done with her yet. Gathering her close to him, Kakashi whispered in her ear, loving how he made her shiver. "Tell me." Lina shook her head quickly and quickly unwrapped Kakashi's arms from her and got out of the bed, saying, "No, it's nothing. U-um I think it's time I went home. You know, Kurenai-"

"Oh no. Stop using her as an excuse. Kurenai is fine without you. _You_, are staying right here with me." Kakashi quickly pulled her back onto the bed, not letting her go as she squirmed and wiggled under him.

"But Kakashi~! It's not fair! I told you one already. It's your turn." Lina turned as she felt Kakashi freeze above her. Seeing him freeze, Lina quickly withdrew her comment, saying "Oh, it doesn't have to be about me. I know you have preferences for tall busty women, so tell me-"

"Wait what? Who told you I have a preference for 'tall busty women'?" Kakashi unfroze and asked the question, just in time to see the slight hurt forming in Lina's eyes. Lina looked back at him and tilted her head to the side, saying simply "Raidou. We were talking one day during lunch last week I think, and the topic came to you, and he starting talking about all the rumors about you, and how he's never seen you with any other type of women."

Kakashi just looked at her, unsure of what to say. While it was true that he'd only been with a specific type in the past, that had nothing to do with the present. Right now, he wanted_ her_. She knew that, right? Not knowing what to say, Kakashi blankly said, "Oh." Lina felt her breathing become rapid, so she intentionally kept it controlled, and smiled back at him. Getting up from the bed, she walked towards the door, only to find her way blocked by Kakashi, who had used his inhuman speed to get there before her.

"Where are you going?" Kakashi looked down at her, trying to figure out what was wrong now. As he'd watched her get up to go, he'd immediately noticed that something was wrong, just from the way she walked. But as he looked down at her, he felt like he couldn't get through to her.

Lina looked back at him, having put up a wall in her mind to keep herself calm, and smiled wryly. "I'm getting water, I'm thirsty. You want some?" She watched Kakashi shake his head, his face confused, and she walked out of the room and towards the kitchen. She felt him follow her a few steps away, so she kept her back to him, in case her face showed any of her actual emotions. Humming to herself, Lina used all her shinobi and kunoichi skills to pretend to be perfectly content, grabbing a glass and filling it up. She held the glass to her lips, noticing that her hands were shaking, but she didn't stop, praying that he wouldn't notice. _'Honestly, this is so stupid! I knew going into this that Kakashi had a certain preference, and that I didn't fit it. But I didn't care, because he liked me for me, and that was enough. So why the hell am I being all over-sensitive and weepy?!' _Lina thought to herself, horrified that she was such a crybaby.

"Your hands are shaking." Lina felt Kakashi's arms wrap around her waist, and she stiffened momentarily before forcing herself to relax. Turning around, she smiled and said, "Must be anemia. I think it would be a good idea for me to go home now." Turning back to put the glass in the sink, Lina tried to pull Kakashi's arms away from her, but he just held on tighter, almost too tight.

"Lina, cut the crap. I know you're not anemic, will you just talk to me?" Kakashi growled out, furious at himself for doing whatever it was that he'd done, and mad at her for immediately putting up a wall that he couldn't get through.

Lina turned around, facing Kakashi, and shook her head into Kakashi's chest. "I'm sorry, Kakashi, this is something I need to work out on my own. You...I know you mean well, and I really do appreciate it, but you can't help me with this one."

Kakashi looked down at her, still confused, and walked her to the kitchen table, pulling up another chair for himself. "Lina, does this have something to do with what Raidou said? About how I used to only be with a specific type of women?" His heart squeezed as he saw her pause for a long time, before she nodded slightly, but it hurt him even more when he saw her smile sadly at her hands, as if it were her fault.

"It's my own insecurities, that's all. I guess that's what happens when you drop the henge and the real you comes out." Lina half-heartedly joked, scolding herself in her head for letting her bottom lip shake so badly.

Kakashi sat in front of her unsure of what to do or say. Finally, he stood up and picked Lina up bridal style, walked into the living room, and placed her on the couch. Standing back up, he paced back and forth for a few times, thinking about what to say as he rifled through his hair. Reaching a breaking point, he walked back up to her and kneeled down and took her hands in his own, looking up at her.

"Lina, Raidou was right when he told you that I've been with a lot of women, all of them looking a certain way. But do you know what the difference between those relationships and this one is?"

"That if you ever walked out with any one of them as a couple no one would ever take a second glance or mistake you for a pedophile or spread rumors that they'd cast some sort of spell on you, because why would you go out with anyone less than perfect?" Lina murmured under her breath.

"No!" Kakashi virtually shouted, making Lina jump. Scooting closer to her, he quietly said, "No. The difference is that those were meaningless, non-relationships, and I can't even remember most of the girls' names. But you, you are real. _This_, is real. And no matter how many women I've been with in the past, that doesn't change the fact that I'm with you now. And I don't care what anyone else thinks." Kakashi watched Lina nod silently, and saw in her downcast eyes that the wall she'd put up was beginning to crumble, but not fast enough for his liking. He wanted to say more, talk about how insecure she was, but he felt that now wasn't the time. But he had to do something.

Using a last resort, he leaned in close to her and carefully said, "And the reason why I didn't say anything just now, when you asked me about my fantasies," he smiled as he saw her blush lightly. "was because I was actually in the middle of thinking about a particular one I'd had a while ago. And this one is specific to you only. No one else would work." Kakashi smiled slightly as he watched Lina pull back in shock, her face brilliantly red.

Deepening his voice slightly, he asked in statement form, "You want to know, don't you."

Lina bit down on her lip, torn between wanting to know and not wanting to fall into that trap she was sure was laying about, where Kakashi would flash that self-satisfied smirk at her when she nodded yes. Finally, she compromised, rolling her eyes in fake-annoyance and nodded, albeit a little teary, "Yeah, go on then." She felt the knot in her throat loosen up slowly as she began to relax, but it was still tight. Kakashi smirked, just as she's expected him to, and picked up her hands again, rubbing soothing circles into the backs of her hands.

"Do you remember that day I gave you the bell test?"

Lina nodded, smiling slightly as she thought back to that day. Smiling, she cleared her throat once before she teased, "You mean the day I beat your ass so fast you couldn't even use ninjutsu?"

She giggled as she watched Kakashi slump his shoulders slightly. "You're going to hang that over my head for a long time, aren't you?" Lina grinned and nodded. "Oh yeah."

Kakashi sighed and resumed rubbing circles into the backs of Lina's hands, smiling slightly after hearing her giggle. "Any_way_, do you remember the bookstore we went to afterwards?" He watched her carefully, thinking she'd immediately recognize the scene he was thinking of, but he was wrong.

Lina looked at him blankly and said, "Yeah?"

Sighing, he trekked on. "Do you remember what happened _in_ the bookstore?" When all he got was a blank look, he continued. "When I pulled you back after you said you were going to pay?"

Lina's face slowly changed as she remembered. "You mean how I was against the bookcase and you were practically on top of me?" Kakashi nodded and waited. Lina slowly remembered what had happened, and suddenly withdrew her hands from Kakashi's and covered her mouth, her previous hurt now gone as shock set in its place.

"Oh my God. Kakashi!" She smacked him on the arm, her face still bright red as she remembered. Kakashi grinned and stood up, walking over to sit beside her. "Yeah. Hey, you asked." Lina pushed him with her forearm, only to feel him wrap his arm around her shoulder, laughing.

"B-but I didn't expect something like that! But wow, that was so long ago!" Lina turned her head to look up at Kakashi, finding that he had a slight tint in his cheeks. Turning herself fully towards him, Lina teasingly asked, "Oh Kakashi, is that when you started liking me?" She watched as Kakashi began combing through his hair with his fingers, and she knew she'd figured it out, no matter how much he denied it.

"Uhh…" Kakashi briefly wondered if it was too soon to say yes, but he soon lost his train of thought as he watched Lina get up and sit between his legs, and felt her carding her fingers through his hair.

"Kakashi?" Lina prompted, loving how she'd just made him speechless. She watched him wake up slightly.

"What?"

"Never mind." Lina shook her head lightly and kissed him deeply, lightly pushing him into the back of the couch with her whole body as she kneeled between his legs on the couch. She didn't mind that he didn't admit it right away, because for now, just knowing it was true was enough for her. And besides, there were always going to be times when she could use the information to her advantage, and she planned to make full use of it.

Lina pulled back as she felt previous tears begin to surface and leak out of the corners of her eyes. She turned away to quickly wipe them away, but Kakashi got there before her, gently turning her face back to him and softly running his thumbs under her eyes to catch the tears, worry lining his face. Lina gave him a confident albeit watery smile, to show that she was fine now, and he returned the smile, kissing her cheek before pulling her back to return to her lips. Lina smiled and hummed into the kiss as she felt Kakashi wrap his arms around her, only to yelp in surprise into his mouth when she felt herself being shifted downwards suddenly as Kakashi lay her down on the seats of the couch, him on top of her.

Kakashi looked down at Lina, her hair now only slightly damp, splayed under her on the couch seat. He hesitated for a moment, still a little worried, and so he asked, "Lina, are we good? I mean, I know we completely skimmed right over that issue we had, so if you want to talk about it, I can listen." He watched Lina shake her head and smile. "I'm fine now. One of the good things you'll find about me is that I get over things pretty quickly and easily. I don't know why, but I do. Ironic, considering it took me 12 years to get over...well, never mind. The point is, I'm fine. And thanks."

"Are you sure?"

Lina's smile widened as she felt the emotion behind his words. "Yeah."

Kakashi smiled down at Lina and slowly lowered himself down to kiss her, his hands already beginning to wander. His hands quickly moved in polar opposite directions, his left coming up to cup the back of her head as he continued to kiss her, while his right moved down. Using his hand, Kakashi lifted Lina's leg up until the knee was at a pointed angle beside him, the foot planted on the couch seat. Running his fingers up her leg from ankle to knee, Kakashi relished Lina's shivers and moans as he grazed over sweet spots. As he reached the hem of her shirt (well, really, his shirt), Kakashi quickly dove in under the shirt and allowed his fingers to explore her skin, going up her thigh and briefly squeezing her bum, making her jump as always, before he moved on upwards, reaching her breasts.

"Mmm, Kakashi. Do you remember what I said about no sex?" Lina murmured into Kakashi's lips.

"Yeah. Got it, no sex." Kakashi mumbled back, and Lina giggled into him. Tilting her head up to break apart from him, Lina cupped his face in her hands and said, "Then what do you call this?" Kakashi looked down at the two of them, his shirt riding high on Lina's thighs, on the cusp of exposing her, and his hands just barely visible under his shirt as he cupped her breast. Looking back at Lina, he casually said, "Oh this? Just foreplay."

Lina laughed as she pushed him away and sat up.

"But Lina-chan~…" Kakashi whined and Lina looked up from straightening her/his shirt. Smiling, Lina leaned in to give Kakashi a soft kiss, playfully nibbling and sucking on his lower lip. "Kakashi-kun, did you know that I'm not wearing anything under this shirt?" Kakashi stared at her and made a low whining sound, muttering "Great, and now you're torturing me." Lina giggled and shook her head, softly petting his chest through his black tank top undershirt. "Nooo, what I meant was, one reason why we couldn't do it is because it would stain the cushions. You don't want that, right?" Kakashi looked at her for a moment as his mind whirred into action.

Launching himself at her, Kakashi swiftly picked her up and carried her into the kitchen, placing her on the counter next to the sink. He placed his hands on either side of her, and said in a deeper voice, "Any complaints?" Lina looked back at him, and shivered under the intensity of his gaze, but she said, "Actually yes. I said no, until I get a date." She watched in amusement as Kakashi slumped forwards, groaning. Lina sighed and cupped his face, leaning her forehead to his and asking, "Did you eat?"

"Not hungry." Kakashi mumbled and Lina smiled. Letting him go, Lina hopped off the counter and took his hand, leading him out of the kitchen.

"Where are we going?" Kakashi asked distantly, but Lina just ignored him and made her way to the bedroom. Finally arriving, Lina led Kakashi to his side (or what she assumed was his side, considering she'd found him sleeping on it the first night she'd slipped in)and pushed him onto the bed.

"What're you doing?"

"Get in." Lina said as she walked around the bed onto the other side. She pulled open the sheets and crawled into the bed, sitting against the pillows expectantly on her side of the bed. Soon, Kakashi joined her, still unsure of what was happening. Smiling, Lina crawled over to Kakashi, still halfway inside the covers and sat on his legs, facing him. Her arms around his neck, Lina softly kissed Kakashi, slowly deepening the kiss and scooting closer into him. She smiled as she felt Kakashi respond to the kiss, and soon their hands were wandering. As Lina's hands reached the bottom hem of Kakashi's black undershirt, she felt both their heartbeats begin to race. As she kissed and touched, touched and kissed, she felt Kakashi's muscles contract and tense up wherever her fingers were. Belatedly, she realized that there was no way she was going to stick to the 'no sex' rule she'd created, not with her heart racing the way it was.

Breaking her kiss with Kakashi, Lina began trailing kisses across his face, until she came to his ear. Licking the shell softly, Lina said quickly, her hands still under his shirt, "Hey Kakashi. Remember that thing about no sex?"

"Yeah?" Kakashi's voice sounded just as rushed as hers as his hands, still outside of her shirt, trailed down her back.

"Forget about it." Lina said heatedly before she sucked on his earlobe.

"Oh thank the Gods." Kakashi burst out, finally allowing his hands to move under her shirt, just barely managing to restrain himself from ripping it off of her. He felt Lina let go of his ear and begin to lick and suck her way down his neck, her hands slowly moving upwards, making his undershirt ride up as well. He felt her shake and shiver, actually having to stop her movements, when he lightly trailed a finger up and down the indent of her spine, making her moan. He buried his nose in her hair, breathing in the smell of her freshly washed hair, and getting even more turned on as he smelled their two scents lingering and combining. With her using his shampoo and body wash, coupled with wearing his shirt, it was like he was slowly engulfing her in himself, making her his. He found that he liked that.

Lina's hands moved on to circle Kakashi's back, hugging him as she sunk her face into the crook of his neck. As her hands slowly moved upwards, Lina removed one of her arms from around him and placed her hand on his shoulder, levering her up to kiss him intensely, their tongues clashing as their breaths mixed. She trailed that hand down his back, removing her other arm to do the same until she had both forearms rested on his shoulders, hands down his back, clenching his undershirt. She slowly pulled upwards, removing the shirt from Kakashi's body as she continued to kiss him. Finally, she felt the bottom hem of the shirt reach her fingertips and Lina let go of Kakashi's lips.

"Gods, you're amazing." She murmured, their noses just barely touching, breaths mingling. In one sweeping motion, she lifted his shirt up and over his head, stopping just at his wrists as she gave him a burning hot kiss, before she finished stripping it off him and dropping it away somewhere. Her hands free again, Lina ran them through his hair, loving the contrast of the textures between her fingers. She felt Kakashi begin to lift off her shirt, and she immediately stilled his hands, stopping all movements.

"Don't."

Kakashi looked up at Lina from his spot on her neck, not understanding what she was denying him. Looking down, he saw her applying pressure to his hands, which were in the process of pulling up her shirt. Confused, he looked back up at her. "But you said.."

Lina smiled as she heard the barest hint of a whine in his voice and she smoothed her palm over his chest, cupping his face in another one. "I know, and we are. But I'm not wearing anything underneath, which means there'll be nothing left once you take it off. So we're going to do you first. Which means _I_…" she 'walked' her fingers down his front, feeling his abdominal muscles contract as she tickled him slightly, "...get to play with you first." She tickled his abdominal muscles again, running her fingers around them like crazy, and quickly cupped his head at the same time, in case he were to suddenly jerk backwards. Nothing was a mood-killer like a bump on the head. Instead, Kakashi lurched forwards, planting his face into her shirt-covered chest with an 'oompf'. Lina giggled as she felt Kakashi squirm under her, but yelped in surprise in the next moment as she found herself being spun to the bottom of the duo, landing diagonally on the bed, her head slanted on a pillow. She squealed in shock as Kakashi attacked her with his own tickling, smirking down at her as he quickly reduced her to a giggling, writhing mess under his fingertips.

"You want to play? Let's play." Kakashi said in a self-satisfied tone, knowing that she'd have heard him, even above her squeals and cries.

"Ahh, Kakashi stop! Noo~! AAHAHA KAKASHIII~!" Lina yelped as she twitched as he hit a particularly sweet spot on her sides. Finally unable to take it anymore, she turned onto her front, desperately clawing at the bed, trying to escape as she cried out, "I give! I give!" She felt Kakashi's weight collapse on top of her as he laughed, and she finally relaxed, the remnants of the last of her giggles slowly dying out as they both worked to return their breathing to normal.

Kakashi slowly wound his arms underneath Lina and rested his face in her upper shoulder, his breath not quite as heavy as hers since she'd been the one being tickled. Lifting himself up slightly, Kakashi tucked Lina's hair out of his way before he began kissing her neck and upper shoulder, making a small ring around the back of her neck, following the curve of the neckline of the shirt she was still wearing. He smiled as he felt her shiver under him, and watched as she turned her face to the side, a small smile formed on her lips. Sweetly, he kissed her cheek before nibbling sensuously on her ear, letting out a low rumble of a laugh when she giggled and squirmed slightly. He moved his hands up to hers, which were placed under the pillow under her head, and held her hands in his own.

Lina felt Kakashi's hands go up to hers, intertwining fingers going between her own, and she lightly held his long fingers between hers. She hummed as she felt Kakashi continue to suck on her ear, giggling as he tickled her slightly. She felt Kakashi begin to trail soft, sweet kisses down her neck, and Lina allowed herself to sink into the bed. As he removed his hands from hers, he gently turned her over again, so that she was facing up, and looked down at her, the moonlight illuminating one side of her while the other remained in shadows. He watched as Lina trailed her hands up his arms, stopping slightly at his ANBU tattoo, her eyebrows furrowing. He saw her prop herself up on her elbows, and then sit up fully.

Lina crawled closer towards Kakashi, her eyes fixated on the tattoo she seemed to have missed previously. Her eyes flickered between his face and the tattoo, as she delicately traced the spiral shape on his arm, biting her lip. Finally, Lina opened her mouth and spoke.

"ANBU?"

She watched Kakashi nod before she looked back at it. Nodding, more to herself than him, Lina gently closed her eyes and kissed the tattoo, her hands rubbing up and down his upper arm, as if to soothe all the pain that had been inflicted upon him while he was in ANBU service. Then, she slowly made her way upwards, trailing tender kisses up his arm and across his shoulder. Distantly, Lina felt Kakashi bring his other hand to gently pet her head. As she reached the crook of his neck, Lina draped her arms around him, burying her face into it and kissing his skin softly for a few moments before she moved upwards, to his face. Finally reaching his face, Lina kissed his jaw, his cheek, his other cheek, his forehead, and finally his nose before she paused, hovering above his lips. Gazing into his open eye, Lina showed her emotions through her own eyes, allowing him to see how she was feeling, right now. Seeing him recognize the emotions in her eyes, Lina leaned in to kiss him, her eye never leaving his, until they both slowly shut their eyes, giving into the kiss.

As Kakashi kissed her, he felt absolutely no inclination to rush into the actual intercourse part of the night, simply happy to be holding her. As he'd felt her kiss his tattoo, and then trail kisses up his arm and to his face, Kakashi had turned his head to gaze at the moon outside his window, briefly wondering how his life had managed to cross paths with this incredibly caring girl, and why on earth it had taken them 29 years to finally meet, despite living in the same village for 17 of them. Now, as he kissed her deeply, conveying his emotions without speaking, he thought of nothing but her eyes. How they'd looked as they'd stared into his eye, showing him her soul. For a shinobi, especially a kunoichi, baring one's soul was not done easily, nor was it done on a whim. Kakashi had looked into Lina's eyes and seen her raw emotions inside, with no walls or barriers. Just knowing that, he knew that he had her full trust, and even if he didn't know everything about her, he still knew that that was a deeply intimate thing to do for any shinobi. Sex, sure it was intimate, but it was also a form of release. But letting someone get so close that they could see you with no barriers, that was by far the most intimate thing a shinobi or kunoichi could do.

And Kakashi knew that kunoichi had it even rougher, as they were taught in kunoichi lessons to bury their feelings far deeper than shinobi had to. These lessons were reinforced and evolved with each rank ascension, which was why most jounin kunoichi rarely showed their true emotions in front of men. Like Anko, who hid her emotions under the ever present bloodlust in her eyes, Shizune, who's eyes were always calm, but showed walls blocking her from the outside world, or even Kurenai, who, before her pregnancy, had always used wit and sharpness to keep men on their toes. As Kakashi continued to kiss Lina, he transiently wondered if perhaps it wasn't the best idea for Lina to become a jounin. Would she be able to maintain her cheery, bubbly persona, or would she turn into one of the other kunoichi, erecting so many walls that even he couldn't break in? But, as quickly as the thought had flitted into his mind, it was pushed aside, as Kakashi reassured himself that she would be fine. She would, she had to. And if she ever stumbled, he would make sure he was right there to catch her.

Lina felt the kiss turn into something different, and pulled back, startled. As she looked into Kakashi's eye, she tried to understand what she was seeing. Cupping his face, she said in a voice barely above a whisper, "What is it?" She watched in dismay as Kakashi shook his head, but she leaned her forehead into his, closing her eyes.

"Kakashi, your eye's cloudy. What are you thinking about?" She waited for his answer, but when he didn't answer, she tilted her chin up to kiss his forehead.

"Okay. You don't need to tell me. But if you need to talk, I'm here." Pulling his head down to fit under her chin, Lina caressed his hair and rubbed circles in his back soothingly. They sat like that, Kakashi's face tucked under Lina's chin, arms circled around each other for a long moment, just feeling each other breathe. As Lina's petting slowed, she slowly lowered herself to the bed, pulling Kakashi down with her. She briefly let go of Kakashi to grope above her head for a pillow before she stuffed it under her head and went back to rubbing small circles on his back as she buried her nose in his hair.

Kakashi felt Lina lower herself down onto the bed, and allowed her to drag him down with her, wrapping his arms tighter around her as he listened to the sound of her heartbeat. For a moment, he entertained the thought of telling her what was on his mind, but he didn't want her to think that he thought she was weak, so he remained silent. He slowly relaxed into her soft but firm body, his arms loosening around her, and he began dropping kisses on her upper shoulder, nibbling slightly. He reached up to kiss her heatedly, their tongues once again meeting in that sensuous dance between their mouths before they took turns exploring. Kakashi groaned as he felt Lina's hands begin to dig into his back, not hurting him, but definitely still present. He pushed her further into the bed with his lower body, at the same time pulling her close with his arms.

As they broke apart, Kakashi felt Lina's hands trail down to the top hem of his pants, which he'd forgotten were still on. He looked down to watch her slowly undo the tie on his track pants. When she was done, instead of drawing them down as he'd expected, Lina brought her hands to his chest and gently but firmly pushed him back onto the bed, so that she was now on top. Quickly dropping kisses down his sternum, and down his navel, stopping briefly at Kakashi's belly button, nipping at the skin around him, loving how she made his muscles tense up. Teasingly, she dipped her finger under the waistband of his pants, just until they were all in, not letting her palms dip down in as well. Trailing her fingers, she felt his boxers, her fingertips grazing over his growing bulge, but only passing by, tormenting Kakashi.

Kissing her way back up to his chest, she zoned in right where his heart was, briefly stilling her lips to feel it beat against them. Closing her eyes, Lina imagined herself kissing his heart, thanking him for his warmth. She nuzzled into him, feeling his arms tighten around her once more, and she appreciatively hummed into him. After stilling for a moment to feel at peace again, Lina began moving her fingers around Kakashi's waistband. Slowly, she made her way to her target: his lower back. Removing one hand from inside his pants, she wiggled them upwards, smiling as she felt him arch up slightly to give her room. Nuzzling his upper abdomen with her nose again, Lina quickly dove her other hand fully under Kakashi's waistband and firmly squeezed his very,_ very_ squish-able tushy, grazing her teeth against his abdominal muscles at the same time. She grinned into him as she felt him buck upwards, a sharp intake of breath reaching her ears, and his arms now nearly crushing her with their strength, not that she minded in the least.

Kakashi jerked upwards when he felt Lina grab his ass, and he felt her grin on his stomach. Hauling her face back up to meet his, Kakashi kissed her harshly, saying roughly, "Hurry up. I want to take this shirt off you." Diving his fingers under the bottom hem, he drew his fingers up her sides, feeling her shiver and moan into him. Lina broke away from the kiss, and placed her mouth against the crook of his neck, nibbling lightly.

"I'm just doing what you do to me." She smirked into him, her hands moving again. One trailed back down to squeeze him again, the other coming up to grip his shoulder from behind. Feeling him jolt and grunt once more, she lifted herself up slightly, taking in his face once more, committing it to memory. How such a beautiful man ever ended up with her when she wasn't in henge form was beyond her, but she wasn't about to let it stop her, not now. She'd dwell on it later. Getting back down between his legs, Lina slowly pulled Kakashi's trousers down to his knees, enjoying the feeling of slowly undressing him, like he was a present, and it was her birthday. She smiled down as she saw the bulge in his boxers, and she trailed a lone finger down the middle of the bulge, increasing the pressure when she reached the end. Another sharp intake of breath had her looking up, and she saw Kakashi staring down at her from his position on his elbows. Smiling up at him, Lina lowered her mouth to the bulge, not looking away from his face for a moment. Ever so gently, she kissed him once from on to p of the fabric covering him. Inwardly, she was getting a standing ovation from her inner self, loving the feeling of seeing him closing his eyes upon impact. Lowering her gaze, she kissed him again, lower. And then again, even lower.

"Shit Lina, stop teasing me." The strain in his voice was not lost on either of them, and Lina smiled to herself.

Nuzzling his bulge still through the fabric of his boxers, Lina finally began to pull them down to where his trousers were, still at his knees, finally allowing him to be free. But before she could do much further, Lina yelped as she felt herself being dragged upwards. Kakashi pulled her up towards him with his hands under her arms, groaning as he felt her body rub against his newly freed erection. Bringing his hand up to cup her head, Kakashi dove his other hand under the bottom hem of the back of the shirt still covering her, and placed it against the small of her back, anchoring her to him. Lina melted as Kakashi kissed her fiercely, his tongue blazing a path on her lips. Mewling softly, she place her hands on his chest, now curled into fists again as she restrained herself from scratching at his beautiful skin, marring it. Opening her mouth for him, she felt herself clench up as he once again probed her mouth. She felt emotions course through her veins, making her dizzy. Finally unable to take any more, Lina placed her hands on the bed, each on one side of Kakashi's head, and lifted herself up to look at him. She began to tremble as she saw Kakashi's opened eye blaze with need, but she held his stare.

Kakashi looked up at her, his heartbeat racing and breathing getting shallower with each breath. He watched as she looked down at him, hair falling off her shoulders, tickling his chest. He could feel her shaking, and he wanted to draw her to him again, but he didn't move. Finally, after an eternity, he saw her begin to come back down to him, and he folded her back into his arms, where he felt (in the deepest recesses of his heart) she belonged. He didn't move as he watched her kiss him gently, softly, almost unsure of herself. But with each kiss, he could see the need she had for him growing in her eyes, and soon she was drawing out the kisses, slowly moving her lips against his, until finally she closed her eyes and really let go, her tongue gently massaging his own. He could feel that this kiss was different, needy, but in a different way from before. He wasn't sure how he felt about it, but his instincts told him not to push her away or fight her, and his body certainly didn't seem to mind, if his twitching lower half was any indication.

Finally breathless, Lina gently placed her forehead against Kakashi's, her heart swelling with an emotion she was unfamiliar with. Closing her eyes, she swallowed, still breathing slightly heavier than normal. She felt his hand that had been cupping her head reach down and caress her face. The corners of her lips turned up slightly as she leaned into the hand. In this moment, she was happy. No conditions, no extras, just here and now. As she kept her eyes closed, she could almost see herself staying this happy, with Kakashi. She could almost see the two of them, together, laughing, playing. But even as she imagined it, her mind reminded her of the hurt in her, how broken she was. Her throat closed up as she remembered that they were too different, her and Kakashi. He, brilliant, smart, drop dead gorgeous, elite, strong (even with all the deaths she knew he'd had to face, being so elite and all), every girl's dream. And her? What was she? Broken, shattered into pieces from the deaths of people she loved dearly, average looking, average strength. _'Average average average,'_ her mind whispered. But as her mind slowly drained her of her happiness, it also reminded her that she had this moment, right now. She was with him, and she could tell that he wanted her.

Opening her eyes, Lina pulled Kakashi into a searing kiss with renewed strength as she fought against herself to lose herself in the moment. Her sense of urgency must have made it through to him, because she felt Kakashi begin to take her shirt off. Breaking the kiss, Lina buried herself in his chest, urgently saying, "Kakashi, please…"

Kakashi heard her plead against his chest and he spoke into her hair, "Arms up." In one sweeping motion, he'd stripped the shirt off of her, and she was back to huddling against him. Tilting her chin up, Kakashi kissed her probingly, rolling her under him so that he was back on top. He stared down at her, perhaps a little too long, because he heard her say again, "Please, Kakashi."

He smirked back down at her, trying to keep things light, and said, "Needy, are we?"

Lina looked up at him and smiled almost shyly before she nodded. Lifting her hands to touch his face, she said, "You have no idea."

Kakashi groaned and began nibbling at her ear, licking the shell every so often as his hands reached down to cup her breasts. As he felt her begin to squirm under him, Kakashi rolled his hips into her, rubbing his lower half against her, his breath coming out faster now. Using his index and middle fingers, he began teasing her nipples, loving how they hardened and stood out at his touch. Trailing kisses down her neck, he felt her wrap her legs around him lightly, and he groaned as she inadvertently drew him closer (or maybe it wasn't so inadvertent?). Reaching her chest, Kakashi removed one of his hands from her breasts, quickly engulfing her nipple with his mouth, causing her to cry out in surprise. Kakashi reached up with his now-freed hand and tapped her chin. Releasing her breast with a wet pop, he growled out, "Suck." before he returned, swirling his tongue around her nipple.

Lina closed her mouth around Kakashi's fingers, wetting and coating each finger with her saliva as she writhed under him, just waiting for him to finally enter her. After a few moments, she felt him tug his fingers out of her mouth, and she released him reluctantly.

Kakashi released Lina's other breast from his other hand and lightly picked her up, not releasing her breast from his mouth. Feeling her arms run up his chest and wrap around his neck, he sat up, Lina's legs wrapped around her. With the height difference, Kakashi kept Lina on an angle away from him, his head bent as he trailed kissed back up to her shoulder. Slowly, with his freshly-sucked fingers, he trailed them down her back, grazing her puckered hole before he began outlined her slit slowly. He felt Lina jolt into him at his touch, but he held her steady under him, thankful that she was so small that the weight was almost meaningless. As he outlined her carefully, he could feel the slippery-ness that told him she was almost ready for him, and he squeezed his eyes shut, controlling himself.

"Gods, Lina, you're so wet." He felt her draw closer and bury her face in his chest. Feeling a heat coming from her face, Kakashi knew that she was definitely blushing, and he grinned into her shoulder. Dipping one long finger into her from behind, Kakashi felt Lina push herself into his chest even further, a soft 'ah' escaping from her mouth. He could feel her breath on his chest, short rapid bursts of hot air against his skin, and he twisted his arm around so that he wasn't so much touching her from behind as he was from the side. He felt Lina's leg raise slightly as she accommodated for him, sounds still flowing out of her mouth, muffled with her mouth so closely against him. He dipped in another long finger, making Lina cry out again, but she slowly began to move her hips against his fingers, whimpering softly.

Kakashi wanted to touch her with both of his hands, not just one. Leaning backwards, he dropped to the bed, Lina falling against him lightly, and he rolled on top of her once more. Keeping his fingers in her, Kakashi wiggled himself down her body, taking great care to envelop her nipple into his mouth, biting down softly, smirking when she jerked up from the added contact. Fondling her other breast, Kakashi kissed the underside of her breast, loving how she shivered when he found her sweet spots. Finally letting go, he travelled even further down her body, and slowly licked his way diagonally down from each of her hips to the apex of her thighs (what he thought of as her panty line). Seeing her bare, and his fingers already so soaked with her essence, Kakashi slowly and torturously withdrew his fingers from inside of her, making her whine with displeasure, and began to pry her legs apart.

Lina tilted her head forwards to get a better look at Kakashi, just as he was about to stick his face….there. As soon as he made contact, she threw her head back with a strangled sound. She had no idea why she was suddenly so shy about oral sex, when she'd done it and had others do it to her so many times before. Perhaps it was because tonight, everything felt different, more intimate. Whatever it was, her hands still found purchase in his hair, and she fought between the need to have him closer to that area, and the need to not tug on his hair. She felt Kakashi's tongue trace lightly around her before dipping in, and immediately the former of the two choices was chosen as she jerked her hips into him, both hands pushing into his head, making him closer to her. She felt him suck lightly on her, tongue still moving in and out, twirling around, and Lina could hear her moans growing in strength.

Kakashi moved up slightly, and lightly sucked on her clitoris, his tongue swirling and playing with it as he felt her hands move to clench the sheets of the bed. Not raising himself from her, Kakashi murmured into her sex, "Shall I make you come this way?" A small whimper came out of Lina's mouth, and she said, "Please Kakashi, I need you." His own need was starting to get really painful, and he knew he didn't have much time, but still, he slid his fingers into her once more, thrusting and thrumming against her insides with them as he licked and toyed with her sensitive bundle of nerves. Just as she was clenching down on his fingers, he released her completely. Picking her up, he sat on the bed and in one fluid movement slid her on top of him, until he was fully sheathed in her.

With a loud gasp, Lina gripped Kakashi's back helplessly, her eyes wide with surprise, mouth slightly open. Taking a moment to adjust, she bent her head down, resting her forehead against Kakashi's shoulder. Lifting her hips up, Lina tested the connection by sliding back down, her fingers digging into Kakashi's shoulders as she felt desire and raw lust course through her. Raising her hips again, she pulled away from Kakashi's chest, her breath coming out in short pants as she grew closer to peaking. A couple more thrusts had her shaking so badly she could hardly sit still, so Kakashi took control. Laying her back down on the bed, he kneeled between her legs and began moving, each thrust punctuated with a grunt on his part and a moan on hers. Soon, he felt her clench down hard around him, and he brought his face down beside hers, whispering into her ear, "Come for me. Let go."

Lina's eyes flew open when she heard him speak to her, and coupled with the next giant thrust, she flew to the stars, every nerve in her body raw with the feeling of peaking, and she cried out loudly. Kakashi followed closely after her with a strangled groan, her cries and tightness around him making him fly sky high before he free-fell back down to Earth with her. Kakashi quickly drew in several deep breaths to steady himself before he harshly said, "Get on your front." Lina stared up at him, not quite out of the high of her orgasm. Kakashi stared down at her with an intensity so strong he almost looked like something out of this world. But within that intensity was lust, for _her_, and that was the one reason why she nodded slowly and clumsily rolled to her front, sliding him out of her in the process. She felt Kakashi position himself behind her, and shivered as she heard his next words.

"I'm going to take you from behind now, got it?"

She could hear the raw emotion in the question-that-wasn't-really-a-question, but underneath she also heard him asking permission. She hesitated for a moment, not used to relinquishing control, but she nodded nonetheless, reaching up to grab the sheets beside her shoulders. She very rarely ever allowed her sexual partners to get behind her, due to her severe paranoia that everyone was out to get her, so she was nervous to let Kakashi do it, but she also wanted to let him. She felt Kakashi place gentle kisses on her upper back, and she arched it slightly, gasping, as her nerves, still raw from peaking, flared up under his touch.

"You have a beautiful back, do you know that?" Kakashi murmured into her, his hands running up her sides and down her arms to rest on top of her hands, curling around them. He'd noticed the slight hesitation in her when he'd told her he was going to take her from behind, so he decided to start off gentle. Besides, he still needed to build himself up again, since he was now half-soft.

'_I do?_' Lina thought. She'd never seen her bare back before, why would she? '_So then it's just your front that's ugly. That's something._' a snide voice in her head sneered at her, and Lina shook her head, trying to clear the voice out.

Kakashi saw her shake her head, and thinking she was shaking it for him, he leaned next to her ear and whispered, "You do. Soft, perfect skin, no scars or anything. I especially like the indent of your spine." He trailed his fingers down the indent once more, nibbling on her upper shoulder as she shivered under him. "I prefer innies to outies. And you, have a beautiful specimen of an innie." Slowly, he removed his hand from hers and positioned himself at the small of her back. Kissing it delicately, Kakashi began licking her, loving how he made her tremble. He continued upwards, simply following the dip, dropping kisses up her spine as he periodically stopped. He felt her arch her back against him each time he kissed her, a low moan or whimper coming out of her mouth. Finally reaching the base of her neck, Kakashi bit down softly on her skin, one hand coming up to cover hers again, the other moving down to position himself at her entrance.

He stilled for a moment, making sure she knew it was coming before he thrusted deeply into her, his other hand now at her hip. Lina arched her back and gasped, eyes wide open now, and she opened her fists and turned her hand over to clutch Kakashi's. Moaning, she pushed back as she felt him pull out and push back into her. She felt him kiss her shoulder, her upper back, and his hand at her hip began to move up her front, finally stopping at her breasts, seeing as she was now on her elbows. Gasping, she dropped her head down as Kakashi began to fondle her once more, soft moans and whimpers falling from her mouth as he continued to push into her as well. The sound of Kakashi's panting near her ear had her worked up into an even greater frenzy, and she was soon so drunk on lust she could hardly think.

"Lina, get on your hands and knees." Kakashi panted, and Lina slowly obeyed, nearly stopping as she felt Kakashi move with her, as well as inside of her. As soon as she was up, she felt Kakashi's hand that had been over her own snake down to her other breast and began playing with it too. Nearly collapsing right then and there, Lina cried out, "Kakashi!" as she gripped the sheets even further. Without warning, she felt him release inside her, immediately stilling all his movements as he let out a strangled growl, biting her ear. For a horrible moment, she thought he was going to leave her like this, but he had other plans. Turning her back onto her back without pulling out, Kakashi began pounding into her again, remembering where her most sensitive spot was. Pulling her into a hot and heavy kiss, Kakashi brought her upright, with her sitting on his thighs with her legs around him, and put his arms on the bed behind him for leverage and support.

"Come on, Lina. Let it out, let go." he hissed through his teeth, staring at the delicious spectacle on top of him. Only two more thrusts were needed to seal the deal, and soon, Lina was being torn to shreds and put back together again as the orgasm charged through her. She fell on top of Kakashi's chest, causing him to fall backwards onto the bed again, his arms coming up to wrap around her as he stayed in her, the final remnants of both their peaks finally ebbing away and leaving the wonderful afterglow. Lina could feel Kakashi's heart racing, and she smiled into him, knowing hers wasn't any better. After having recovered some of her strength back, Lina began kissing the areas she could reach easily, around his lower chest. Just as she was about to move upwards, there was a puff of smoke at the foot of the bed.

*POOF*

"Yo, boss. Sorry we're late. You know how Shiba gets around mating season."

"Hey!"

"What's that smell?"

Three separate voices sounded through the smoke, and Lina immediately pulled away, covering herself up and looking for a weapon to arm herself with.

"Oh my God!" she shrieked, trying to do both at the same time, nearly an impossible feat.

She grabbed the first thing she could reach, a small photograph sitting on top of Kakashi's bedside table, and readied herself, one arm with the sheets covering her up, the other armed with the photograph, frame and little flappy thing that held it up included. As the smoke dissipated, she made out eight figures in the shadows, all dogs. And then the voices made sense in her head, as she slowly recollected that Kakashi summoned ninken.

Lowering the frame, Lina glared at Kakashi, who at the moment was trying very hard not to laugh, not bothering covering himself up, causing him to become somewhat exposed, but only just barely. Failing completely, he let it all out, the liveliness of the laughter making her want to smile, and said, "What were you going to do, frame them to death?"

"No, I-ahhhhhh~" Lina was about to retort when her body's delayed reaction to Kakashi's slipping out of her kicked in, and she moaned and held herself as she shuddered through the sensuous feeling of him moving out of her, albeit delayed. When she finished, she felt weak again, and dropped her empty hand to the bed, breathing hard as she felt his release begin to flow out of her now that her muscles were no longer tensed.

"Hey, are you okay?" She felt Kakashi crawl over and wrap his arms around her waist, and she glared up at him before sighing.

"Delayed response." She quirked a smile as she felt him nuzzle into her hair, and she closed her eyes.

"Ahem. Boss?" Pakkun's voice rung clear through the room, and Lina's eyes flew open. _ 'Shit, I forgot they were there.' _She looked up to see the eight hounds staring at the two of them with shocked expressions. Looking up at Kakashi, Lina saw his face turn sheepish, and he let go of her.

"Lina-chan?" A familiar voice rang out and Lina smiled to see Guruko at the base of the bed, tail wagging. Smiling down at him, she reach an arm out to him, the other hand still securing the sheet around her chest, and happily said, "Guruko-kun!" The dog happily bounded up on the bed, only to stop short as he got a whiff of her.

"Lina-chan, you smell an awful lot like Boss."

"And sex." Pakkun butted in, not caring that Lina was blushing deeply.

"Guys, leave us for a minute." Kakashi told his dogs, his voice even but still holding authority.

Guruko whined, not really listening to what his pack leader had said, and said, "But Boss, I wanna stay with Lina-chan!"

Lina grinned down at him, and winked, but he'd suddenly froze. The air in the room chilled, and Lina looked at the dogs, who were all radiating submission, staring in Kakashi's direction. Turning to look at Kakashi, she saw that he was giving Guruko an intense, steely stare. After a long time, Kakashi he said in a deep, strong voice, "Go. _Now_." The dogs bristled and left the room without a word, Guruko's tail between his legs and his head drooped. It was then that she understood.

Turning to Kakashi, she said, "You just alpha-male-ed them, didn't you?" Kakashi's expression, now relaxed, remained so as he shrugged. Lina stared up at him in wonder.

"What?"

"That was intense. I've never seen anything like it." Lina was shocked. As a summoner of a ninken, she knew of course about the whole 'pack behaviour' thing, Daisuke had talked to her about it before, but she'd never seen it in action with a human. And suddenly, she couldn't help but smile.

Kakashi raised and eyebrow and reiterated, "What?"

Shaking her head, she said, "So I'm the alpha male's girlfriend, eh?"

Kakashi smirked and drew the side of his index finger down her jaw. "You like that, huh?"

Grinning, Lina nodded, but then she frowned. "But you didn't have to be so mean to Guruko-kun."

Kakashi shook his head. "He needs to remember who's boss in the human world, he's been getting out of control lately."

Lina smiled playfully up at him and slowly stroked his chest. "Mmm, I like Bossy Kakashi."

Kakashi grinned and bent down to capture her lips in his own, kissing her softly and slowly traced the seams of her lips. Lina opened her mouth for him and they slowly kissed as he lowered her down to the bed, her head supported by his hand as she'd done for him before.

"Mmm." Lina hummed in appreciation, releasing the covers and wrapping her arms around Kakashi's neck. Not pulling away from her, Kakashi pulled the covers fully off of her and pressed himself on top of her, making sure to take the brunt of the weight on his forearms and feet. Slowly, he trailed one hand down her side, a fingertip softly circling a breast before he was knocked away with a shocked gasp from her.

"Kakashi! I can't go again." Lina whined, exhausted already. She was still weak from her training, even if she'd slept and had a shower. And the sex, while incredible, had already depleted what little energy she'd gained back from her nap.

Kakashi smirked and said, "Really? Because that would be pretty good material to tell the boys." He looked down at her, grinning as he watched her face turn red.

"Kakashi! You can't do that! Jeez, I'm not an object." She turned her face away, embarrassed. Kakashi laughed and turned her head up to kiss her chastely. Telling the ninken that their boss had mated with a woman so much that she couldn't take anymore would certainly ensure his place as top dog, but he was only kidding.

"I know, I know. I won't tell. Although I'm sure they can hear us right now. Dog senses and all."

Lina's eyes widened as she realized that and she clapped her hands over her mouth, mortified. Kakashi grinned once more and gently pried her hands off of her mouth before he kissed it sweetly. Murmuring into the kiss, he said, "That was amazing by the way. That last round."

Lina relaxed and smiled into the kiss and nodded, her arms unwrapping themselves from his neck and moving down to wind around his torso. "Yeah, that was…wow." She pulled his hips into her, and deepened the kiss slowly.

Slowly, Kakashi pulled away from her, and said quietly, "Lina, I think we should talk." Lina opened her eyes and looked up at him, surprised.

"About what?"

Kakashi ran a hand through his hair and sat up, watching Lina get up as well out of the corner of his eye. As she pulled the covers around her, Lina waited for Kakashi to answer. After a pause, he spoke quietly.

"I'm not very good at the whole…'relationship' thing. I haven't been in one for a while, and back then I wasn't good at it either. I'm used to being alone. I-" Lina hushed him, her hand back to stroking his chest soothingly.

"Kakashi, stop. It's alright. I know I was being emotional back when we were in the bathtub, but I'm fine now. Back there, I was just…well alright I don't know what it was exactly, but it's over now. Alright?" She looked up at him, and gave him a smile, which he hesitantly returned. "Good, was that everything?" The smile disappeared, and Kakashi frowned, shaking his head.

"One more thing. That thing that Raidou told you. I…It's true that I used to only be with certain types of women, and it's true that there are quite a few women I've been with, but that's all in the past now. I told you before, but I'll say it again now. I'm with you now, and not just as a fuck buddy. You are...more. And you're everything I want, got it? So don't feel like you need to, to...compare yourself with those women. Because what you and I have, or at least what I want for us to have, is so much more than what I ever had with them. Understand?"

Lina looked up at him and tried to smile, but him saying those words had reminded her of the differences between the two. Eyes cloudy, she gave a smile, aiming for a shy smile to cover up her insecurities, and nodded. Kakashi looked down at her, and his face showed that he could see right through her deception.

He tried talking to her, getting as far as, "Lina…" before she held her hand up to stop him.

"Kakashi, don't. Please, just leave it. Thank you for saying what you said, you really did make me happy, but please just let it go."

"But-"

"Kakashi, we just had a great night with very good sex. Please let it go, I don't want to ruin the rest of the night. Besides, your ninken are in the next room, and like you said, they can probably hear us."

Kakashi hesitated, but nodded. She was right. And besides, these types of discussions weren't meant to be held within 2 days of starting a relationship. If the issue came up again, which he had a feeling it would, they would talk about it then. Wrapping his arms around her, Kakashi pulled Lina towards him, smiling at the squeak and giggle she let out. Kissing her deeply, Kakashi murmured, "Since the boys are listening, why don't we give them something to listen to?" One of his hands ran down her back, making Lina arch upwards into him with a moan, before it reached her bum. Quickly squeezing her, he grinned into the kiss as Lina let out a loud gasp, her arms tightening around him.

Breaking away, Lina planted her face into his chest, saying "Kakashi!". She felt him kiss the top of her head, and she nuzzled into him, unable to stop the small smile forming. After a few moments, she brought her face up to look at him and said, "I'm going to call in the ninken. But first, where's my shirt?" She looked around at the mussed up bed and Kakashi's clothes scattered on the floor until she finally found the shirt she'd been wearing. As she reached towards it, careful to keep herself covered, she felt Kakashi's arms come around her and pull her back.

"Oh no you don't. You're not putting that shirt back on after I spent so much energy taking it off of you." Kakashi teasingly said in her ear. Lina giggled and squirmed in his arms.

"But Kakashi, I can't be naked with 9 boys in the same room!" She was counting Kakashi as one of the 'boys', and he smirked at the thought, but quickly frowned.

"Hey! There's only one male you need to think about in this room, and that's me." Kakashi's pout was evident in his voice, and Lina had to turn to face him. Reaching up, she cupped his face in hers and said, "You're right." She pulled him to her and kissed him sweetly, softly tugging on his lower lip.

Letting go, she said matter-of-factly, "But still. I can't stay naked with them in the same room. So let go, Kakashi."

She felt his hold on her tighten and he childishly said, "Nope. Just keep yourself covered and you'll be fine."

"But Kakashi!"

"Lina-chan, you do realize that they're dogs right? They don't see you as...well as a girl. So relax already." Kakashi soothed her, and she slowly relaxed.

"Fine, but you have to make sure I'm fully covered, got it?" Kakashi nodded, and loosened up his grip.

Lina turned to the door and called out, "You guys can come in now!" When there was no response, she tried again. "Boys?" Still nothing. And then she remembered that they would only listen to their leader, Kakashi. Turning to him, only to find him smirking down at her, she pouted and said, "Come on, Kakashi. Let them in."

With an overdramatic sigh, he nodded and called out to his pack. "Alright guys, you can come in." The soft pattering of nails and paws on hardwood floor was followed by the dogs running into the room, all wagging their tails and smiling, although Lina noticed that Guruko's expression was slightly less so than the rest. Reaching for him with one hand, Lina said, "Guruko-kun, come lie next to me." The dog froze, looking warily at his boss.

"No." Lina turned to Kakashi, and saw that he had his commanding stare back on his face. She heard Guruko whimper, but she was shocked when she heard Kakashi let out a low growl, as if he were claiming her. Taking matters into her own hands, Lina remembered something she'd learned in her early genin years while training with Daisuke.

XXX

_"Lina, you're going to need to learn to communicate and hold your ground against ninken, if you want to stay with me." Daisuke said, standing in front of her in the middle of the Sasaki clan's mini training field. A small 12 year old Lina sat on the large rock in front of him, swinging her feet._

_"Now, you know about the pack behaviour, but when you meet a ninken or a summoner of ninken, there may come a time when you will need to assert your dominance. Now, being a girl, that makes things a little trickier for you, because it's normally males who dominate, but I'm going to teach you how to prove your worth now." Lina nodded, slightly confused, but still paying attention._

_"First thing's first, is the stare. You will need to work on how intense your stare is, because the more scary it gets, the better. Here, watch me." Daisuke changed his stance from relaxed to one of dominance, and stared intensely into her eyes, slowly pacing towards her. _

_Lina looked up at him for a few seconds before she began to become intimidated. Cringing backwards, Lina began to whimper, until she finally cried out, "Stop, Dai-chan, you're scaring me!"_

_The ninken boss immediately stopped and relaxed, coming up to nuzzle her until she was calm again. "You see? That's what you need to do." Lina rubbed her face in his coat, shuddering at the thought that she could ever be that scary._

_xxx_

_"Alright, you've got the stare down. Now, you need to work on your growl. This is going to be added onto your stare, but it'll make your stare that much more intense. So, watch me again." Daisuke paced away before turning back at her. Widening his stance, Daisuke's eyes flashed and he let out a low growl that soon turned into a snarl. Lina, staring back at him, just watched in awe as she felt her body's core temperature drop with her fear. Daisuke finished demonstrating and walked back up to her, nuzzling her once more to soothe her before he said, "Now you try."_

XXX

Remembering her lessons from long ago, Lina let out a low growl, fixing her eyes on Kakashi. She watched him turn and stare at her, surprised, before his expression darkened, and he fixed her with the same look he'd given his ninken. Not backing down, Lina intensified the stare and let the growl slowly increase. They stared eye to eye, not caring that the pack was staring at them. In the back of Lina's mind, she knew that Kakashi really should be the one to win, considering he was alpha male, and it would be a huge blow to his ego and his dominance in the pack, but she wasn't about to back down now that she'd started. With each increase in volume, Kakashi met her with the same intensity. Finally, she snapped, and snarled ferociously, eyes flashing, her face contorted into a feral smile as she watched Kakashi's face slacken.

"Whoa, alright! I got it, he can stay."

Lina immediately dropped the act and pulled Kakashi towards her. Kissing him softly, and then placing gentle placating kisses all over his face, Lina whispered, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" over and over as she rubbed circles into his back, trying to soothe the hurt she knew he had to be feeling now, with his ego and dominance laying at his feet. Slowly, she felt him begin to nuzzle her too, and she continued her ministrations, not caring about the ninken anymore. Slowly, their movements began to slow adown, and she felt him begin to relax again. Leaning up, she kissed him deeply, soothing him one last time before she laid her head down on his chest, feeling his arms wind around her.

Kakashi, shocked that she'd snarled at him, was still feeling slightly bruised, considering she'd just emasculated him in front of his pack, but he also felt the pack's instant admiration for her, surprised that she could actually overcome their boss. Kissing the top of Lina's head softly, he said, "Lina, you dropped the covers." He felt Lina stir in his arms, and he grinned as she let out a squeak and quickly covered herself up again, a pretty hard thing to do considering he was still caging her in his arms. He loosened his hold on her as she made to turn around, leaning her back against his chest.

Lina turned towards the pack again, embarrassed about her earlier reactions, but she stretched one arm out to Guruko and said, "Come on up." She watched the dog leap up onto the bed, crinkling his nose at the strong smell of sex, but didn't come to her immediately. Padding to Kakashi, he patiently sat down and waited to be acknowledged again. Lina pulled away from Kakashi, wanting to watch this, and smiled as she saw him pat the dog's head fondly, making Guruko's tail wag happily. The air in the room immediately warmed up again, and Guruko walked into Lina's arm, sitting on her sheet-covered lap. She looked up at Kakashi and smiled a thank you at him, which he returned. She wiggled back into his embrace and leaned into his chest again, slowly petting Guruko.

"Hey, what about us?" Shiba and the others yipped, waiting to be allowed on the bed. Lina felt Kakashi's chest rumble with a deep laugh and she smiled.

"Come on up, then." Kakashi said smilingly, and the dogs happily bounded up on the bed, making it bounce and shake as they each settled down. Bull, taking up most of the space, opted for settling at Kakashi's feet, with Pakkun and Urushi beside him. Akino settled down on the other side of Kakashi with Urushi, while Bisuke and Shiba decided to stay near Lina's feet. Lina giggled as she watched the dogs take their places, loving that Bisuke and Shiba were warming up to her because she really wanted to be accepted by all of Kakashi's ninken.

Turning to Kakashi, she said, "Would it be alright if I summoned Daisuke? He's a little big, but he'd be sleeping on my side and I think there's space." Kakashi nodded and smiled down at her. Lina was about to go into the seals when she turned to him. "You're going to need to hold my sheet up for me."

Kakashi smirked and said, "What if I let it slip?"

Lina looked at him and said, "Then Daisuke's gonna have your head for a midnight snack." Kakashi shuddered and nodded quickly. "Got it." He wrapped his arms around her upper body, his chin resting on her shoulder, and watched as she summoned her ninken.

"Kuchiyose No Jutsu!" Lina planted her summoning hand on the bed next to her, and a poof of white smoke came out.

"What is it now, Lina?" Daisuke said, the smoke slowly clearing. Immediately Kakashi's ninken stood up, wagging their tails as they greeted their ninken boss. He quickly raised a paw, saying, "Hello, everyone. Lina, why did you summon me when you smell like sex? You know how I hate that." Lina smacked her forehead with her palm, embarrassed, and said, "Dai-chan! I was thinking you might like to sleep with me. We haven't sleep together in a while, and you always make me have a good night's sleep just by laying beside me." She kept her eyes away from the ninken and Kakashi, not wanting to meet their amused gazes.

Daisuke's sensitive nose crinkled with disgust as he tried not to breath too much, but he quirked a smile as he saw Kakashi staring at him, noticing that the human was still holding some sheets to keep Lina covered. Nodding to him, he said evenly, "Kakashi."

Kakashi nodded back cautiously, "Daisuke-sama."

Daisuke surveyed the two human's appearances before he spoke again. "Hurt her, and I'll have your head. But I'm sure Lina's already told you that."

Kakashi bristled and nodded quickly again, ignoring Lina's giggles. He watched Daisuke relax and lay down next to Lina.

"Ne, Lina-chan, are you Boss' mate now?" Guruko's innocent voice asked from atop her lap.

Lina looked down at him and laughed lightly. She shook her head, and said, "No, I wouldn't say I'm his mate. Umm...I guess you could say, in terms of what the dog's equivalent would be, I'm his bitch." She heard a gasp come from Kakashi, and she turned to him.

"No you're not." Kakashi said sternly, surprised once again.

But Lina just laughed and said, "In human terms, I'm your girlfriend, but to a dog, that translates as your bitch, right? We're not married, which is why I'm not your mate." She took in a sharp breath as she felt Kakashi shake her slightly.

"Stop saying that. I don't like using that word to describe….this. You're my girlfriend. Not my bitch. Understood?" Lina blankly nodded before she smiled and turned back to the boys.

"Well, there you have it. I'm his girlfriend." Shiba let out a howl indicating his admiration for his boss, and Kakashi chuckled, his chin back on her shoulders. Lina giggled and turned her head to Kakashi, giving him a sweet kiss on his temple.

"How long?" Lina turned to Daisuke, who just watched the two of them, a small smile on his face. Blushing lightly, she said, "A couple of days. OH!" Her eyes widened as she remembered another thing she'd forgotten to tell him.

"Dai-chan, guess what? I did it! I got recommended to take the jounin exams!" Lina said excitedly, grinning from ear to ear.

Daisuke nodded approvingly and said, "About time. Good job. Now, you need to train."

Lina rolled her eyes and said, "Kakashi's been training me. Apparently I'm more suitable for Lightning style jutsus than Wind, so I'm working on the basics again."

Daisuke raised an eyebrow and said quizzically, "Kakashi?"

Lina nodded and asked, "What?"

Daisuke shook his head. "It used to be 'Kakashi-san'. I'm assuming this is a new thing?" He watched Lina blush heavily and nod shyly, her eyes darting away. He smiled and yawned casually. "Well, it's not like I care. Just remember what I said, _Kakashi_."

Kakashi nodded solemnly, but quickly smiled as he felt Lina's hands rub his forearms, which were still wrapped around her, keeping the sheets around her secure. He softly kissed her shoulder and asked, "Sleep?"

Lina covered her mouth as she let out a small yawn and nodded tiredly. She felt Guruko wiggle off her lap, only to find that the spot he'd wanted to secure beside her was taken by Daisuke. Obviously, he wasn't about to ask the ninken boss to move, so he reluctantly slinked off to Daisuke's stomach area, receiving a sympathetic pat on the head from Lina before curling up next to the ninken boss.

Lina wiggled around a bit before she got comfortable and shyly kissed Kakashi's cheek, still not quite used to sleeping with another person. As she withdrew, she felt him take hold of her chin and she found herself pulled towards him again. Kakashi kissed her softly on the mouth, knowing full well that the pack was no longer paying much attention to them. He nudged his nose against hers, giving her an Eskimo kiss, and quietly said, "Good night."

Lina smiled softly up at him and nodded. "Good night."

She turned away from Kakashi, towards Daisuke, and laid down on her side. With Daisuke above the sheets, Lina was effectively covered up by them on his side. She felt Kakashi slip under the sheets and wiggle towards her, his arm winding around her waist, and Lina pulled it up to her mouth and gave it a kiss. She felt Kakashi kiss her shoulder, his teeth grazing lightly on it as he slid his mouth down her arm. With a sigh, Lina turned over and smiled up at Kakashi before she wiggled into his chest, breathing in his smell. She distantly felt him kiss the top of her head and wrap his legs around hers before she fell asleep in his arms, so happy, forgetting all the unhappiness of earlier.

Kakashi felt Lina relax into him, finally falling asleep. He thought of the events of the day, how she'd reacted to him admitting he had been with only a certain type of women, and then how needy she'd been when they'd finally had sex, and then how distant she'd felt for that short while after. He thought of how she'd teared up after her confession that he was only her second relationship. He was a little unsure of how he felt about being so intimate to someone, but at the same time, he felt like there was a magnetic pull in him to be with her. It was like she was meant to be with him, like how she was in his arms right now. He'd never felt more alive than when he had her in his arms, when he was kissing her, touching her, buried inside of her. Gods, it felt good to hold her. These thoughts slowly dwindled away as he finally succumbed to sleep, but not before he drew her closer to him once more, whispering, "Good night." once more.

-end

Author's note: Oh my God ok this was a long one, but it's done! Jeez, talk about making you wait eh? How did you feel about the bath scene, where Lina first showed Kakashi how insecure she was, or the bed scene, where Kakashi talked to her about his past women? I'm not sure if I'm entirely satisfied with the latter, but oh well. Oooh and that alpha male thing, that was actually kinda cool for me :) I know, it's not entirely accurate with how real life pack behaviour would be, but I decided to make it a little different.

So, now Kakashi knows about Lina's insecurities, or at least a little bit about them, because she still won't talk to him yet.

Btw, yes yes, I know I made Lina give in too easily about the whole 'no sex' thing, but (and here's a bit of a hint for what's to come) the rookie girls are going to help her with that.

Lastly, I made them make up so easily because they're still in the honeymoon phase of the relationship. Allowances must be made. 'Nuff said. ;)

Alright, I don't have much else to say about this chapter, so I guess I'll leave it at that. I hope you liked it, and I hope it made up for the wait on the last one. Next chapter will be updated in a week or so, and more things will happen! Ja Ne :D


	21. Chapter 21

**Something I wanted to mention, just cuz it's somewhat relevant to the story: right after the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime, the Pain arc starts. Now, I personally want to develop more of the Lina/Kakashi/rest of the gang's relationships, so I'm stretching the time frame just a bit. Pain invasion won't come for a few chapters.**

As always, please review, comment, write something! I'm dying to know what you guys think. Ja ne! ;)

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. I do, however, own any original ideas or characters (such as Sasaki Lina) that I have created.

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Sasaki Lina is 29. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: **the Pain arc is still going to happen, I'm making Sasuke come back too, but Shinobi Alliance arc is still going to happen, as well as anything that didn't directly involve him in the anime/manga.** I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?) Enjoy!

_**PLEASE REVIEW! COMMENT, ANYTHING! THANKS :D**_

**_A special thank you to all the reviewers so far! If I haven't contacted you personally, it's probably because you weren't logged in when you commented. But regardless, thank you to all of you. You are all so encouraging, and I appreciate the criticism as well!_**

_**Chapter 21**_

The next morning, Lina awoke to the hushed doggy-whispers of the pack, discussing whether they should leave now or not. Keeping her eyes closed, she heard Guruko whine, saying, "But I want to say goodbye to Lina-chan…" only to be hushed by Pakkun, who gruffly said, "She's asleep, and we need to get back." Another one of the dogs, she was unsure if it was Urushi or Bisuke piped in, "Shiba wants to get back to his bitches anyway." making her smile. Opening her eyes, Lina blinked the sleep out of them and looked in front of her, seeing only a creamy white wall of skin. Tilting her head upwards, she found herself face to face with Kakashi's breathtakingly handsome sleeping face, hair deliciously mussed up and his neck and shoulders spotted with love bites. She slowly regained feeling in the rest of her body, and felt Kakashi's arm wrapped loosely around her waist, his legs thrown across hers, and she realized that they'd slept exactly as they'd laid down, neither moving an inch. Closing her eyes, she snuggled in a little closer, inhaling his scent.

The small movement she'd made seemed to have alerted the pack, because they all stopped talking. Slowly, Lina raised her head, careful to not jostle Kakashi too much, and sleepily looked around the room. The ninken, including Daisuke, were all up and alert, Guruko, Bisuke, and Shiba wagging their tails at her. As the tails thumped, Lina quickly placed a finger on her lips, hushing them, and whispered, "He's still asleep." Guruko walked up to her, nuzzling her arm, and said, "Good morning. We're going to head home now, okay?" Lina fondly petted the dog, and nodded, pinning the sheets to her with her armpits before she reached out to Bisuke and Shiba. The two came and nuzzled her, and the rest of the pack said their goodbyes quietly. Lina looked over at Daisuke, and smiled, which he returned with a nod before he too 'poof'ed away.

Turning back, Lina saw that Kakashi was still asleep, so she crawled back into his chest and lay back down, cuddling in closer and closed her eyes, not falling asleep, but just laying there. She lay there for several minutes, just soaking up the wonderful feeling of safety before she decided she had a better plan. Getting up quietly, she quickly tugged on the shirt she'd discarded the night before and walked into the bathroom. Quickly brushing her teeth with her fingers again, Lina undid the barrier jutsu that protected her from getting pregnant, just like she did every 'morning after'. As the barrier dissolved, Lina quickly sat down to pee, knowing that the water barrier would fully release and run out of her within a matter of seconds. Finishing up, Lina hazily looked into the bathroom mirror and tied her hair up in a high ponytail before she walked out and into the kitchen.

As she rustled around in the kitchen, quietly opening cabinet doors and drawers, she remembered that Kakashi's apartment had an extremely limited supply of food. Unsure of what to do, she contemplated putting on her clothes from the day before and running out to get breakfast for the two of them, but she crinkled her nose as she remembered how sweaty she'd been. And then she remembered that she had a ninken. Duh! Smacking herself on the forehead, she rolled her eyes and summoned Daisuke.

"Yes, Lina?"

Lina quickly hushed him and said quietly, "Dai-chan, could you do me a huge favor? You can pick which you want to do. I wanted to make breakfast for Kakashi, but he has no food in the house, and my clothes are all gross-smelling from training, and I don't have another change of clothes. So, could you either run to my apartment and bring my regular outfit from my wardrobe, or run down to the supermarket and buy food for me? I'll give you money and everything."

Daisuke surveyed his summoner before he sighed. "I'm not buying you food. What clothes do you want, and where are they?"

Lina quickly nodded and said, "Just a dress, any one from the closet, and some underwear. If Kurenai is awake, you can get her to get them for me, she knows where everything in my room is. Thanks, Dai-chan."

Daisuke nodded back and walked out of the apartment, running away at full speed. Lina thrummed her fingers for several minutes, before she remembered that Kakashi's clothes were still strewn across the bedroom floor. She quietly walked back into the bedroom, smiling as she watched him sleep for a moment before she began picking up and folding his clothes, laying them on the corner of the bed. Daisuke soon returned with a bag of clothes in his mouth. Dropping them at Lina's feet, he said, "Kurenai picked the stuff, and told you to not forget that you had to train today."

Lina nodded and hugged him before letting him poof away again. She rushed into the bathroom and took a quick shower before she changed quickly, scribbling down a quick note and laying it on the pillow beside Kakashi in case he were to wake up before she got back. She walked out of the apartment door and placed a barrier outside his door, seeing as she didn't have a key, and quickly made her way to the supermarket.

In the supermarket, which luckily was only a block away from Kakashi's apartment, Lina strolled through the aisles, picking up bread, cheese, veggies, and fruits, and an extra carton of eggs, but laying off the meat. She picked up a few basic spices and quickly left, ready to make breakfast.

As she walked into the apartment, she quietly placed the bags of groceries on the counter before she padded into Kakashi's bedroom. Finding him still asleep, Lina picked up the note she'd written for him and walked out of the room, crumpling it after she'd closed the door. She walked back to the kitchen and began washing and preparing breakfast, making two portions of everything. Seeing as Kakashi didn't have a toaster, Lina had to change up her plans, but luckily she'd bought extras, so she was able to switch without too much trouble. Making a cheesy French toast, Lina cracked a couple of eggs into a bowl and beat them, adding in a little bit of milk and some chives. Whisking them until the combination was fully combined, Lina shredded some cheese and diced two large tomatoes, adding in a little lemon and a quarter of a small onion, creating a small salsa-like dish for later. With everything fully prepared, Lina heated up a skillet, waiting for the butter to melt to the appropriate temperature as she soaked the bread she'd bought in the egg and buttermilk mixture. When it was ready, Lina slowly lowered the bread onto the melted butter and began frying it, smiling as the delicious aroma began filling the kitchen. She continued doing this with several more slices of bread, finishing up by laying the shredded cheese on the fried bread's surface as she waited for it to cool on a separate plate, allowing the cheese to slowly melt.

Kakashi woke up to the sound of something frying, and the smell of something delicious. Immediately disoriented, he reached for Lina, remembering only that she'd been in the same bed as him when he'd fallen asleep. His hand laying on a cold and empty side of the bed, Kakashi woke up fully, finding that his ninken and Daisuke were gone. Noticing that his clothes were folded and laying on the end of the bed, Kakashi lazily got up and got dressed, intrigued at the smell of food coming from his kitchen. Last he remembered, he didn't have anything in the apartment that would warrant such a wonderful smell. He quietly walked into the entrance of the kitchen, smiling as he found Lina dipping bread and placing it in a pan. He crept up behind her, and carefully wrapped his arms around her, bending down to rest his chin in her shoulder.

Lina drew in a gasp as she felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around her, but relaxed immediately when she heard a familiar voice in her ear.

"Good morning."

Lina smiled and leaned her head against Kakashi's, and said quietly, "Good morning. Did you sleep alright?" She felt him nod, and she went back to cooking the bread.

"Breakfast's almost done. I stocked up on some basics for you, but you're still going to need to go shopping, you have almost nothing left to eat."

"You didn't have to do that, but thank you all the same. Now, I have a question for you. Why are you dressed? If I remember correctly, you were wearing my shirt last night until I took it off and had my way with you. So, why aren't you wearing the same shirt?" Kakashi spoke into her neck, slowly kissing it, loving that the heat radiating from it meant that Lina was blushing.

Lina giggled and sighed, saying, "I went shopping for you. I wasn't about to leave the apartment dressed in only your shirt, so I got Daisuke to get me clothes. What, you don't like this dress?" She felt Kakashi shake his head and continue kissing her, his voice muffled into her skin.

"I do, but I like seeing you in my shirt more."

Lina grinned and coughed embarrassedly, "Anyway, breakfast is just about done. Go sit down, I'll bring it to you."

"Do you want any help?"

Lina shook her head and shoo-ed him away, finishing up the cheese on the last slice of bread before she began slicing all of the pieces diagonally, making triangles out of the squares. Finally, she grabbed a spoon and dipped into the salsa she'd made with the tomatoes and onion and lemon zest and placed a spoonful on the middle of each triangle. Carrying the plates to Kakashi, Lina placed his plate in front of him, and hers on the other side of the table. She walked back to bring the jasmine tea to the table before she sat down.

Kakashi looked at the teapot, amused. "Jasmine tea with French toast?"

Lina shrugged, biting her lip. "I thought you might like something lighter to drink since there's cheese, egg, and milk in the French toast. If you want I can make coffee or something." She watched him shake his head and get up.

Kakashi walked over to her and picked up her hand, tugging her upwards as well. Looking deeply in her eyes, Kakashi reached behind her head and tugged lightly on her ponytail, bringing her lips up. He kissed her deeply and slowly, releasing her ponytail and wrapping both arms around her, bringing her closer to him. He felt Lina's arms around him, pressing into his back, and he hummed into her, their lips moving in unison. When he finally pulled back, Kakashi softly kissed her once more, before murmuring, "Good morning. Thanks for the food. Unfortunately, I'd prefer it if you were wearing my shirt rather than that dress, no matter how good you look in it."

Lina stared up at him, slightly dazed by the kiss before she smiled knowingly. "You want me to change, don't you?" She watched Kakashi smile down at her, and she rolled her eyes. Letting go, Lina teasingly sighed and said, "It would be so much better if you helped me, you know." She made it as far as two steps before she felt Kakashi's arms wrap around her and turned her around and lifted her up. With a yelp, she found herself flung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Your wish is my command." Kakashi smirked as he carried her back into the bedroom.

Lina giggled and squirmed on his shoulder before she was thrown on the bed, Kakashi falling on top of her. As she caught her breath, Lina reached up and pulled Kakashi into a kiss, her hands curled in his hair. As the kiss devolved into light pecks, Lina whispered, "No sex. I'm serious this time. I didn't spend all that time buying and making you food just to have it go cold."

She felt Kakashi whine and nod slowly, and she smiled, rolling on top of him and kissing him deeply again before she got up. Taking Kakashi's shirt, Lina fumbled with the zipper of her dress. Kakashi got up and went to help her, slowly undoing the zipper, lowering himself down with it, kissing his way down Lina's back. As he dropped lower and lower, he felt the dress slowly come down with him, and soon it was lying on the floor in a small right around Lina's feet. Straightening back up, Kakashi wrapped his arms around Lina once more, pulling on her ponytail again to make her tilt her head (he was growing quite fond of her hair being in that style) and kissed her soundly on the mouth. Lina twisted around to face Kakashi, her arms coming up to rest on his upper arms, and she molded her body into him. Breaking apart, Lina dropped her head into his chest, laying it down on top of his heart. She reluctantly let go after a moment and began putting on Kakashi's shirt again, keeping her lingerie on. Turning back to Kakashi, Lina grabbed his hand and led the way back into the kitchen.

Reaching the table, Lina pushed Kakashi down into his seat, bending down to kiss him softly before she went to sit in her seat. They began to eat, and Lina smiled as Kakashi hummed in satisfaction.

"This is really good. Another recipe you learned while away?"

Lina shook her head and said, "My mom used to make this for me on special occasions. Birthdays, sad days, stuff like that." She watched Kakashi look up at her in surprise.

"Oh? So, what's the special occasion today?" Kakashi watched Lina blush and bend down to take another bite.

"Last night was pretty great, at least for me. And also, I wanted to thank you for training me yesterday, and then letting me nap in the afternoon." Lina bit her lip and squirmed in her seat before she took a sip of her tea. Looking up, she saw Kakashi smiling as he regarded her. Seeing her look up, Kakashi looked back down at his plate and continued eating, saying, "Yeah, last night was pretty great. You're welcome about the training, you're using your head and past experience with water and wind styles, so it's going to be easier for you to get the hang of lightning style."

Lina smiled and nodded, continuing eating. They ate in companionable silence, not needing to say anything to the other as last night was still resonating in both of them. As Lina continued to eat, she glanced up at Kakashi, and remembered something she'd been meaning to ask him since the first time she'd seen his face, 3 days ago.

"Hey, Kakashi, do you mind if I ask you something?"

Kakashi looked up at Lina, finding her biting her lip again. Nodding, he continued eating, eyes on her.

"Your mask…" Lina started to ask, but then noticed Kakashi stiffen slightly. Raising her hands up in defense. "Oh, no, I'm not going to ask you why you wear it. I-I don't think it's really my place to ask right now, right?" She stammered, quirking up a lopsided smile as she watched Kakashi relax a little, but still wary. "You...you wear your mask all the time when you're outside, right?" Kakashi nodded, and Lina nodded back. "Okay, so, if you wear your mask all the time, and you're outside a lot, training and on missions…" Lina trailed off.

"Yeah?" Kakashi prompted.

"Well, how do you not have tan lines on your face?" Lina finished, blushing slightly. Kakashi raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Does it bother you?"

Lina blushed a little more and shook her head, her elbows now resting on the table, her hands balled into loose fists in front of her mouth as she shook her head. "No, but I was just a little curious, that's all." She watched Kakashi grin and say, "I don't tan. Never have."

"Oh." Lina wanted to say more, ask if he got that from his father or his mother, ask him what they'd looked like, but she kept her mouth shut. Even if she'd only been in one relationship before him, she knew that it was too soon to be asking such personal questions. She finished up her breakfast and glanced up at Kakashi. As she looked at him cleaning up his own plate, she quirked up a smile.

"You know, it's a very good thing you keep yourself covered."

Kakashi looked up at her, noticing her teasing tone. Looking at her quizzically he asked, "Oh? And why is that?" He watched Lina's smirk grow wider as her eyes travelled down from his face to his neck.

"I left a few reminders of last night on you, and since we're keeping things low-key, I don't think showing the world would be the best thing to do."

Kakashi stared at her, having not looked in the mirror yet, and promptly got up to go look, Lina trailing after him, growing more and more nervous with each step. _'Did I go overboard? Should I not have bitten so hard? Oh crap…'_

As Lina regarded Kakashi inspecting his neck, eventually watching him take his shirt off to look at his chest in the bathroom mirror, she nervously bit her lip, stomach knots growing with each second that passed. When he continued to remain silent, Lina drew in a deep shaky breath and said, "I'm sorry Kakashi. I guess I went overboard last night." She kept her eyes down, thinking she'd just made him angry. Her past sexual partners had never minded that she'd marked them, some even liking it rougher, but in the heat of last night, she'd forgotten to ask if Kakashi minded, and just let her libido run free.

"You know, I was just thinking…"

Lina shut her eyes, now turned away from Kakashi as she waited for him to continue. She felt him come up behind her and wrap his arms around her tense stomach.

"...I don't think I marked you at all last night. Since you certainly did for me, I'd say it's time for a little payback." Kakashi murmured seductively into her ear, feeling her stomach un-tense.

"So, you're not mad?" Lina spoke, just barely above a whisper.

She felt Kakashi turn her around to face him, and she looked up at him, eyes searching his face for any amount of displeasure. Kakashi bent down to kiss her, slowly walking her backwards until she was against his small mahogany chest of drawers. As soon as she bumped into the chest, she felt Kakashi tower over her, still kissing her, his hands on top of the chest, effectively caging her under him. As Kakashi pulled away, he said, "Why would I be mad when it gives me the opportunity to repay you?"

Lina panted up at him, blushing, but smiling, eyes bright. He watched her look down at their position and then back at him, her eyes alive with mischief.

"You know, I seem to be having a déjà vu moment right now. Weren't we in this position before?" When she received a questioning look, she pressed on. "In the bookstore? This is an awful lot like that time, don't you think?" She grinned up at him as she watched Kakashi's eyes flare up with heat. Kakashi reached towards her, bending down once more, only to feel her hand on his chest, stopping him.

"Wait Kakashi, I just remembered something."

Thinking she was going to tease him and leave him hanging, Kakashi pushed into her, dropping soft kisses on her forehead and cheeks, reaching her mouth and tugging lightly on her lips.

"Mmh! Sto-mmfgh, Kakashi, wait! I released the barrier jutsu." Lina struggled against him before she felt him stop.

"Barrier jutsu?" Kakashi looked down at her, his visible eye staring intensely at her, as if he was just barely controlling his need.

_'Oh my Gods.' _Lina nodded up at him, blushing slightly. "The thing that keeps me from getting pregnant, remember? Unless you want to use a condom." She felt Kakashi release her slowly, and she relaxed. Pushing him away slightly, Lina closed her eyes and formed three seals: Dog, Monkey, Boar, and placed her right hand on her lower abdomen, channelling her chakra inwards. After a moment, she opened her eyes and smiled. "Done."

"Done? So…" Kakashi trailed his fingers down Lina's arms, dragging out the sentence. "I can...do _this_ now?" He bent down and licked the shell of her ear softly, smiling as he felt her grip the front of his shirt and giggle.

"Among other things…" Lina muttered, grinning. _'Gods, he's insatiable, isn't he? Not that I'm much better, but still.' _Lina turned her head and kissed Kakashi's cheek delicately, both of them slowly turning towards each other until they met at the lips once more. She felt him place his hands on the chest of drawers again, pushing down and into her as they kissed. Going apart, Lina ran her hands up Kakashi's chest, resting them on his shoulders and she gazed into his smouldering charcoal eye.

"Kakashi, one thing before we...well, you know. Don't leave any marks that will be visible when I have my clothes on, alright? My neck is fully off limits."

"No way. You bruised me everywhere, don't think I'm letting you get off that easily." Kakashi scolded teasingly, his tone growing dark, and Lina shivered yet again.

"But Kakashi, your marks are all covered up when you wear clothes!" Lina protested, blushing at the thought of what people would think when they saw her branded with hickeys all along her neck.

"Were you _thinking_ of that when you were doing it?" Kakashi questioned, amused. Lina nodded quickly, only to blush when she found Kakashi staring at her disbelievingly. Slowly, Lina shook her head, pouting slightly.

Kakashi smirked. "Then too bad."

He swiftly bent down to capture her lips once more, drawing her into a heated kiss as he rested his palms on the chest of drawers, making Lina bend backwards slightly, resting her forearms and elbows. Kissing the corner of her mouth, Kakashi watched Lina's head loll to the side as he trailed kisses down her neck. As he began nibbling, he felt Lina sigh and melt into him. Grinning into her skin, Kakashi abruptly lifted her up and placed her on top of the chest, thankful that the chest of drawers was low enough and she was small enough that she could sit on it without him having to crane upwards. Pushing her back until her knees touched the edge of the chest, Kakashi stood between her legs, arms still caging her, and pushed her back into the wall, dropping kisses at the crook of her neck. He felt Lina wrap her arms around him, urging him closer, and he pulled her hips towards him again, creating a small gap between the wall and her back, so that only her head was leaning against it now.

"Ah, Kakashi. Bed." Lina groaned, her neck beginning to hurt. She squeaked as Kakashi lifted her up again, instinctively curling her legs against his body, and he walked backwards before falling onto the bed. Looking up at her, he said teasingly, "I like how your hair is now, it certainly has it's uses, but I still prefer it down."

Lina looked down at him, panting slightly, and smiled shyly. "Then do something about it." She watched Kakashi reach up to her hesitantly and slowly pull out her hair tie, careful to not catch any strands in the process. When he was done, she shook her hair out, and it fell in cascades down the side of her face, enveloping the two of them in their own little shadowy bubble. Smiling, Kakashi reached up to her and fisted his hand in her hair, pushing her head down as he whispered, "Much better. Now I can do this." He pushed her face down to meet his, and they kissed insistently, tongues meeting in the middle. Turning them over, Kakashi continued, soon reducing Lina to an incoherent mess on his bed, with him not far behind her.

XXX

"Wow. That was...oh my." Lina panted, the sheets just barely shielding her from the daylight. She stared up at the bedroom ceiling as she tried to calm down her heart, still slightly giddy from just moments earlier. Beside her, Kakashi lay huffing slightly, both eyes shut as he too tried to calm his heart. Reaching over to her, he trailed his fingertips up and down her arm, watching her breathe deeply through his eyelashes. Lina turned towards him, her hands coming up to rest on his chest, and she closed her eyes, feeling their hearts beat. Opening her eyes, she looked up at Kakashi, suddenly a little unsure of herself.

"You're not speaking. Was it not good for you?" Kakashi shook his head in response, his hand reaching up to trace the outline of her face. "No, it was. I'm just looking at you." Lina tucked her head down shyly, tracing random patterns into his chest as she produced a shy smile. She wiggled in closer to him and breathed in his scent deeply. "I didn't know it was possible for it to be that good." Her voice muffled into his chest, but she knew he'd heard her when she felt Kakashi's grin on the top of her head. Pulling back a bit, she gazed up at the man whose bed she was in and sarcastically said, "So, are you happy now? I haven't looked at myself, but I'm pretty sure you've marked me up pretty well."

She watched Kakashi's grin widen as his open eye swept down her body, or the parts that weren't covered, at least. Making an appreciative sound in the depths of his throat, Kakashi smirked and said, "I'd say I did a good job. Why don't you go have a look?" Lina quirked an eyebrow at him before she nodded and got up, taking the thin sheet covering her with her as she left the bed. A small cough made her turn back, and Lina's face slackened as she realized she'd just uncovered Kakashi as well. Biting her lip to stop a smile, Lina lifted a dark eyebrow and said, "Well that's a nice view." She distinctly remembered him saying the same thing to her two days ago, and she wasn't about to let the opportunity go to say it back. Deliberately sweeping her eyes down Kakashi's naked form, she couldn't help but smile as she felt some satisfaction at having bedded this beautiful man.

"Like what you see?" Kakashi knew he was good looking. It didn't take a genius to figure out why so many women seemed to immediately transform into giggling schoolgirls or seductive temptresses wherever he went. Not that he cared. None of them had ever held much of his interest, and the ones who had, had only been interested in sex, and he'd only used them to fulfill Icha Icha inspired fantasies, so it was always a symbiotic relationship. But it left a new level of satisfied smugness in him as he watched Lina enjoy herself looking at him. In the back of his mind, he began to panic as he realized that Lina was about to see what he'd done to her, but he remained relaxed in front of her, mentally preparing himself as soon as she left the room.

"Oh, you have no idea." Lina shook her head, still smiling, before she hoisted the sheet in front of her off the floor and walked out of the room into the bathroom with it trailing behind her. As she slowly unrolled the sheet from her neck and upper body, her eyes bulged. Her skin, not nearly as creamy as Kakashi's but still relatively light, was now spotted with dark purple and blood-red bruises all down her neck and shoulders, some littering her breasts, making her look like she had a nasty spotty rash or something.

"OH MY GOD! KAKASHI!" Lina shrieked, face turning red as she stared at herself. Storming into the bedroom, she glared furiously at Kakashi, who was at the moment trying to pull off a nonchalant look, Icha Icha Paradise in his hand. He put down the book and said casually, "Yes, Lina-chan?" He watched as she walked to his side of the bed and snarled, "Don't 'Lina-chan' me! What the hell did you do?!" Trying to placate her, he said, "It's just a few bruises, they'll heal eventually. Besides, you did the same thing to me, remember? And, I think you actually created a couple more just now." He looked down at himself, pretending to survey the 'damage'.

"Kakashi! That's completely different! YOUR bruises can be covered easily enough! What about mine? LOOK at this!" Lina unceremoniously dropped the sheet, pointing at her chest as the sheets exposed her upper half. She watched Kakashi look at her blankly before he smirked and reached towards her and grabbed a breast. "Mmm, the twins." She smacked his hand away, but couldn't help a smile forming on her face.

"Stop making me smile, I'm still mad at you." Lina grew more annoyed and less angry as she watched Kakashi smirk up at her and wrap his arms loosely around her waist. Sighing, she crossed a leg over his own naked ones and sat on his thighs, hands on his shoulders. Lowering her voice, Lina quietly said once more, "I'm still mad at you…"

Kakashi smiled up at her and nodded, a hand coming up to drag her face down to meet his in a long kiss. As he pulled away, he spoke quietly into her lips, "Still mad at me?" He felt her nod and mutter, "Jerk." He smiled and softly pecked her lips again before he asked, "How about now?" Lina nodded her head, eyes closed, and she smiled as she felt Kakashi kiss her cheek. She lay her head on his shoulder, nuzzling into him. _'Are relationships normally this...intimate?'_ Lina thought. She'd never been in a relationship with sex, so she had no experience. Her last relationship, with Souta, had made it as far as first base before the 'incident'.

As she lay there, Lina suddenly remembered that she had an outstanding lunch date with Raidou today. Getting up, Lina re-wrapped the sheet around her, looking at the time. Seeing as she only had an hour until their meeting, Lina quickly got up and began picking up her clothes.

"Where are you going?" Kakashi leaned on his elbows, looking at Lina. He watched her hunt around the bed for her clothes, grinning every time the sheet opened up slightly in the back and revealed just a sliver of her skin.

"I hate to bed and run, but I have a date with Raidou. Where's my-oh never mind, found it." Lina said distractedly, picking up her bra off the floor.

"You have a what?" Lina turned around to see Kakashi sitting up fully, staring at her, his gaze hardened. She paused from putting on his shirt she'd used the day before, her clothes in her hands.

"I have a lunch date with Raidou. We always go out for lunch, when we're not busy, that is. We said we'd meet at the Jounin Headquarters at 12:30, and I'm about to be late. Why?"

Kakashi got up, not caring that she was blushing now that he was naked and standing in front of her. Staring down at her, Kakashi said, "You do realize you're my girlfriend right?" Lina raised her eyebrows in surprise and said tartly, "So? Raidou's a good friend, and I like having lunch with him. Besides," she walked her fingers up Kakashi's chest flirtatiously, "it's not like you're going to take me out, right?" She drew in a sharp gasp as Kakashi grabbed her hand and pulled it away, his other hand coming up to force her chin up to meet his gaze.

"So, this is payback?" Kakashi's voice was now low and deep, screaming danger with every syllable, but Lina just looked up at him, unfazed.

She laughed, shaking her chin out of Kakashi's grasp. "No! We've had this day set aside for a week, so unless you're implying that I'm psychic, no, this is not payback. Besides, this way I get to tell Raidou that we're...well, a 'we'. Although...if it makes you that mad, maybe you SHOULD take me out one day?" Lina joked, her eyes clearly showing that she was kidding. She felt Kakashi relax his grip on her hand, and she gently pulled it out, binding her arms around his hips and lacing her fingers together as she tugged him closer.

"Maa, I had no idea you were the jealous type." Lina teased softly into his chest. She grinned as she felt Kakashi wrap his arms around her, his neck and chin resting over her head lightly.

"I'm not jealous." Kakashi said back, twitching slightly as he felt Lina poke his side as she giggled.

"Whatever. Now let go, I need a shower." Lina pushed Kakashi away and walked out of the bathroom, rolling her eyes as she felt Kakashi trail after her. Entering the bathroom, Lina turned to Kakashi and said, "You're staying out here."

"But Lina-chan…"

"Kakashi, I'm going to be late. I…" Lina tried to deny him, but one sweeping glance at his still-bare lithe body leaning on the side of the doorway left her speechless. Groaning, Lina threw up her hands and tried to shut the door in his face. She briefly caught his grin before the door closed, and she growled out in discontent. _ 'Why does he have to be so damn good looking…jeez.'_

Lina quickly stripped and took a shower, determined not to think about Kakashi or how dazzling he'd looked, just standing in the doorway. Finishing up quickly, Lina tossed on her clothes again, rubbing the towel furiously through her hair and walked out of the bathroom right into his chest. Jumping back slightly, she moaned and rubbed her nose before she looked up.

"Were you there the whole time?" she asked incredulously. Kakashi shook his head and said, "No, I just came back when I heard the shower stop." He scooped her up, holding her in his arms, and carried her into the living room. Dropping her on the couch, he bent down and kissed her, hands resting on the back of the couch. Lina struggled, turning her head away, protesting.

"Kakash-mmn! Hang on, stop." Kakashi rolled his eyes and stopped, pursing his lips. "What now? You have lots of time to get to the Jounin Headquarters." He watched Lina rest her hands on his chest and shake her head.

"Not that. Sit down." Kakashi did as he was told, wondering where she was going with this. In the next second, Lina crawled onto his lap, smiling down at him. "This is more like it. I prefer being on top." She winked, shifting around slightly. Kakashi grunted as she moved on top of him, putting his hands at her hips to stop her.

"Gods, woman, _again_?"

Lina giggled and shook her head. "No, Kakashi, not again, although I could. No, I was thinking more along the lines of _this_." She bent down and poked the tip of her tongue out of her mouth and gently licked Kakashi's lower lip, enveloping it in her own and sucking gently before she tugged at it and pulled away. She smiled as she saw Kakashi's charcoal eye glow up at her, and she bent down to kiss him again. She felt Kakashi shift and turn her over so that she was the one sitting on the couch.

"I like being on top too." Kakashi's voice, low and deep, sent a shock of shivers down Lina's back. As he kissed her more insistently, he hurriedly asked, "How far?" Lina let out a questioning sound, only half paying attention.

"How far? First base," He kissed her cheek, his hands wandering, "second base," his hands trailed down to her breasts, "third," they moved even lower, "or all the way?" Lina struggled to think through the haze, but eventually sighed, "Second base. Any further and I won't be held responsible for being late."

Kakashi smirked into her neck and said slyly, "I'd love to make you late." He heard a gasp from Lina and she lightly shoved his arm. "Kakashi!" He grinned and kissed her lips once more, feeling her dissolve under him.

XXX

"Well that was nice, but now I really should go. We're training in the afternoon, right?" Lina straightened up her dress, and placed a henge on herself to cover up her bruises before turning to scowl lightly at Kakashi. Kakashi watched her, and nodded. He ran a finger along her neck, where the bruises were before she'd covered them up and asked, "Do you have to cover them _all_ up?" Lina placed her hands on her hips and shook her head, rolling her eyes.

"Yes, Kakashi. What do you think people would think, a nearly 30 year old woman with hickeys up and down her neck and shoulders? Goodness, my parents would probably drag me home just so they could yell at me." She shuddered at the thought of her family finding out, glaring at Kakashi when he chuckled.

"Fine, fine. Yes, we have training in the afternoon, so don't eat too much at lunch." His expression darkened as he remembered that she had a 'date', but Lina smilingly dropped a sweet kiss to his lips. Pulling back, Lina groaned and said to herself, "Ugh, I really need to stop kissing you." She quickly tied her hair back up in the low side bun and walked to the front door to put on her sandals. Turning back, she smiled and said, "See you in a couple hours."

XXX

"Raidou, hey! Sorry I'm late, did you wait long?" Lina ran up to Raidou, who was standing outside of the Jounin Headquarters talking to Genma. She smiled at Genma, her attitude towards him considerably kinder after he'd recommended her to become a jounin candidate. "Hi Genma-san." She watched him snort and shake his head.

"Please, Lina. It's Genma. You've been training for the exam right? I don't want you embarrassing me when you do the exam."

Lina rolled her eyes but nodded good-naturedly. "Yeah, I've been training. Thanks again for recommending me."

"Yeah, well, getting onto the list is the easy part. Passing, that's a completely different story. Anyway, I have stuff to do. Bye, Rai', Lina." The two remaining waved him off and set off on their own.

"Lina, did you do something different with your hair or something? You look, different."

"Umm, actually, there's something I need to tell you. But I need to do it in private, and you have to promise you don't say a word to anyone." Lina said quickly, blushing slightly. Raidou glanced at her, wondering what it could be. They soon arrived at their regular traditional-style restaurant that they went to for lunch, and Lina specifically asked for a private room. Raidou raised an eyebrow, now seriously intrigued. They sat down and ordered food, Lina not giving anything away, and Raidou not asking. Settling in, Lina began fidgeting with the hem of her dress and sleeves, biting her lip.

"Lina, what is it?" Raidou's voice jolted her out of her thoughts on how to tell him, and she looked up, smiling slightly. Her eyes flitted to the door, ensuring that it was closed before she spoke.

"Raidou, you have to promise not to tell anyone, alright? Not Genma, no one." She waited for his confirmation, which he seemed to do a little hesitantly, and she nodded in return.

"Kakashi and I…we're kind of...well I don't want to say that we're a 'couple', just because we haven't been out on a date or anything yet, but he's umm, I mean, we...we finally told each other how we feel." Lina stammered, feeling the blush rising on her face. When Raidou didn't speak, she tentatively looked up to see his face, surprised.

"Oh." Raidou didn't know what to think. He'd been rejected by her, and he was fine with that, but now, he realized that he had been hoping in the back of his mind that she would come around. Most of him was happy for her, but a small part of him kept saying, _'It's alright. They just told each other their feelings. Nothing happened.'_

Lina furrowed her eyebrows, but continued on. She told him about what had happened immediately after talking to the Hokage that day she'd found out about the jounin candidacy. She told him about training, and he could see the happiness glowing in her eyes.

As she finished talking, Raidou smiled and said, "Wow. So, a lot's happened since that day, huh?" He was disappointed that he'd lost her to Kakashi, but at the same time, he knew that Kakashi was a good person. If he was finally willing to start a relationship again, after years of just sleeping around, Raidou knew he would be serious about it. And hey! If he didn't, he could always get his ass whupped by Raidou if he ever hurt her.

Lina laughed liltingly and nodded. "Yeah. But remember, you can't tell anyone, alright? We're kind of keeping things low key."

"You got it. And Lina, remember what I said about him last week? Well, if he ever tries any of that shit on you, tell me and I'll kick his ass." Raidou rarely swore, so Lina looked up in surprise before she smiled and nodded.

"Thanks, Raidou." They spent the rest of lunch chatting, Lina glowing with excitement over the jounin exams. She tried to squeeze Raidou for information about what it would be like, but he remained tight-lipped, saying only that it would be different and much harder than the chuunin exams.

"Oh come on, Raidou, just a hint. Please?" Lina begged.

Raidou shook his head, eyes smiling with mirth. "Nope."

Lina pouted and crossed her arms. "Fine, I'll just ask Kakashi then."

Raidou's lips thinned and he shook his head. "Darn, I forgot about him. Fine, ask him. But I doubt he'll tell you much either, even if you two _are_ together now.."

Lina grinned mischievously and winked. "Oh, I would think you of all people would know that a shinobi always has his or her ways of gaining information, ne?" Raidou shook his head once more, rolling his eyes, but smiled.

XXX

After lunch, Lina and Raidou set off in different directions, Lina heading to her apartment to relax and change into changing clothes for training later, while Raidou walked to the Mission room to see if he had anything outstanding. Arriving at the apartment to find it empty, Lina changed into her training clothes and read a few chapters of Icha Icha Violence volume 2, stopping just in time to make it on time to the training grounds.

When she arrived, she found the area empty, so she sat under a tree in the shade and meditated, glad to be out of the sun for now.

"Hey." Lina opened her eyes and smiled as she heard Kakashi's voice sound out from nearby. Getting up, she smiled and said, "Hi." Inwardly, they both wondered how they ended up always saying 'Hi' to each other. They quickly stretched and Lina began training again, remembering what she'd learned yesterday. Since she was still new at Lightning Style, her injuries from yesterday, while healed, immediately flared up again as the chakra ran down the same path. Soon, she was beginning to feel the strain again, much like she'd done when she'd first started working on her Water Style. Her muscles were tense, her nerves raw from the electricity, and she could feel herself losing chakra already.

Deciding to take a break, she walked over to Kakashi. "Hey, Kakashi, I was thinking about the jounin exams, and I was wondering if you could teach me some supplementary stuff? Like, the body flicker, shadow clones, that kind of stuff. I don't really have many non-battle jutsus, and I think it'd be better if I learned, don't you?" She watched Kakashi look up from his book and think.

"Sure. The body flicker really isn't that difficult, so I can show it to you now. The shadow clone is an B-ranked jutsu though, and it takes a considerably longer time to learn it, but I can teach you the lightning release shadow clone, which is like it, but a little easier. Plus, because you have an affinity for Lightning already, it'll be easier for you."

Lina nodded and smiled. "Great!" She watched Kakashi go through the motions for the body flicker, and after a few tries, was able to do it proficiently, but only in small distances. With more training, she'd be able to travel further and further. Next, Kakashi taught her the lightning styled shadow clone. This took several more tries, but after about an hour, she was able to create it properly, albeit only for a small amount of chakra. Afterwards, they resumed the Chidori training.

XXX

"Uaah! I can't do anymore…" Lina groaned, collapsing on the ground beside Kakashi, who was sitting, reading Icha Icha. She closed her eyes tiredly, arm over them as she rested. She felt Kakashi place his hands around her and carefully lift her up to a sitting position, saying softly, "There we go." Lina moaned in response and leaned against him, too tired to be coherent. She felt him chuckle and wipe some strands of hair out of her face, keeping quiet. They sat there for a while, Lina slowly gaining her breath back. The longer she rested against Kakashi, the more tired she got, and soon, she'd unknowingly dozed off, head on his shoulders as her breath evened out.

Kakashi looked down at Lina, noticing her weight grow heavier, and found her asleep beside him. Smiling to himself, Kakashi wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer to his chest so that she could rest more comfortably, and continued reading.

XXX

"Lina, hey Lina. Wake up." Lina opened a blurry eye, blinking in the late afternoon sun, and looked up to see Kakashi looking down at her. Smiling lazily, she closed her eyes again, turning her face away from the sun.

"I don't wanna get up…" Lina whined. She felt Kakashi chuckle, the sound rumbling in his chest, and she smiled.

"Lina, you really should get up, it's not good to stay in one position for too long after training, your muscles will get all tense and bent out of shape." Kakashi chided, and Lina groaned again.

"Fine, fine. How long was I out?" Lina stretched and worked the kinks out of her joints.

"Around an hour or so. By the way, how was lunch? You were so focused on training that I forgot to ask."

Lina grinned up at Kakashi, knowing his nonchalant tone was clearly a shield. Deciding to play along, she casually said, "Oh, it was good. We went to our usual restaurant and sat in a private room." She watched Kakashi's expression, looking for any hint of jealousy. Instead, much to her dismay, she found mild surprise.

"Oh?"

Lina nodded and smiled sweetly, not saying any more. If he wanted to know more, he'd have to ask her himself. She got up and picked up her pack. She felt Kakashi's finger tap her on the shoulder and she turned around.

"Follow me." Kakashi walked away, into the forest, and Lina hid a smile as she remembered a similar situation just yesterday. As she walked, she came up with an idea. Following him into the trees, Lina grinned as Kakashi tried to push her against a tree. Swerving away, Lina ran into the forest, calling out, "Catch me if you can!" For a brief moment, she worried that Kakashi wouldn't play along, which would end up making her look stupid. Luckily, Kakashi loved a good chase. As she ran and jumped between branches, Lina took down her hair bun, letting her hair fly. She felt Kakashi grow near. Grinning wildly, she quickly turned, trying to head deeper into the forest, but Kakashi swiftly caught up to her, grabbing her by the waist and sending the two of them tumbling to the ground.

"Gotcha."

Lina shrieked loudly as she fell, just barely covering her mouth towards the end as she realized how loud she was. Rolling on the ground due to a small valley in the forest, Lina laughed as she clutched onto Kakashi's arms with him laughing along with her. They soon came to a stop at the bottom of the tiny dip in the forest, Kakashi laying on top of Lina, both of them trying to catch their breaths while laughing.

As Kakashi looked down at Lina, her hair flared out on the ground, he grinned. Pulling down his mask, he bent down to kiss her, both of them still panting. The panting soon encouraged them to deepen the kiss, each of them wrapping their arms around the other. Kakashi quietly spoke against Lina's lips, "You look beautiful like this, you know that?"

Lina quirked up an eyebrow and said, "With my hair in the grass and clothes all dirt-stained? Umm…"

Kakashi nodded, grinning. "You look like a wood nymph, or a sprite or something. Very….ethereal."

Lina pushed him back a little, snorting. "Ethereal? Have you been rereading Paradise?"

Kakashi chuckled before he bent down to kiss her once more, saying, "You know me so well."

Lina giggled into the kiss and sighed, her arms and legs wrapping around Kakashi. She didn't for one second believe what Kakashi had said about her looking 'ethereal', but she clamped down hard on the negative emotions welling in her heart and just enjoyed being near him again. It was amazing how much she could miss touching him and holding him within the span of a few hours. The closer they got, the more she felt she needed to be near him. Of course, she knew that this feeling was a side effect of entering a new relationship, or at least she'd seen it happen to her friends and in her travels, but to experience it first hand was something else entirely. It was completely different for her relationship with Souta. Back then, she'd been a girl, inexperienced and shy. They'd never gone past kissing, and she'd always felt happy just knowing that she was with him. With Kakashi, it was different. While with Souta, she'd felt giddy, happy, shy. But with Kakashi, she felt like she was flying, like he was pulling her along for a wonderful ride. And they had only discussed being in a relationship several days ago! A darker part of her mind insisted that it was all too good to be true, but for once, Lina wanted to just be happy. No complications, no darkness, just her and Kakashi. At least for now.

"You'll tell me if I'm too heavy, right?" Kakashi asked suddenly, realizing that he wasn't even bothering to bear some of the weight.

Lina shook her head and tightened her arms around him. "I don't mind the weight, you're perfect." Kakashi snorted and said, "Stop saying that unless you want me to take you right here." He heard Lina gasp and he chuckled, getting up and helping her do the same. As she straightened herself out, Kakashi picked the leaves and grass out of Lina's hair, running his fingers through it to comb out as much as he could. Finished, they began walking back his hand ghosting past hers every so often, making her shiver.

As they reached the training grounds again, Lina remembered something she had to tell him. Turning to Kakashi, she said, "Oh, I just remembered. I'm not coming over tonight, I'll be going out with Hina, Tenten, your student...Sakura? Oh and Ino, the one who fights with Sakura all the time."

Kakashi pouted through his mask, the outline of his lower lip being the only indication, and said, "Alright. You're not coming by after?" He gently tugged at Lina's sleeve, making her giggle.

Looking up at Kakashi, she said, "Maa, Kakashi, you're so playful today. No, I'm not coming by after, I think I'll be too tired. Training just now took a lot out of me, and then staying up and hanging out with those girls, I'll be too tired to do anything anyway." She steered him towards another wall of forestry that lined the training area and pulled down his mask and brought his face down to meet hers in a soft probing kiss. Breaking away, Lina said, "Yeah, that's about all I'll be able to handle when the night is over."

Kakashi cupped her face and bent down to kiss her again, their tongues dancing as he moved his hands down to her waist. Breaking away but staying millimetres apart, Kakashi murmured teasingly, "Even if I do all the work?"

Lina giggled and pecked him on the lips softly between words. "Mm, don't, tempt, me. I have to wake up early to train with Hina, Kiba, and Shino tomorrow."

Kakashi groaned into her mouth, still gently pecking her lips. "Then why go out?"

Lina smiled and pecked him once more. "Because I miss the girls."

Kakashi lifted himself up and looked directly at her chest. "But then I'm gonna miss _these_ girls…" He smirked under his mask as he watched Lina blush and smack his arm embarrassedly.

"Kakashi!"

He laughed and nudged her back gently. "What?"

Lina shook her head smilingly and said, "Couldn't you just say you were going to miss me, rather than say you're going to miss my breasts? Which aren't even that big by the way."

Kakashi shook his head. "Now that wouldn't be very 'pervy' of me, now would it? And no, they're not huge, but they're perfect for you. And so soft."

Lina laughed and nodded, rolling her eyes. "No, you're right. Of course, you _must_ live up to your reputation." She refused to reply to his comment about her breasts.

Kakashi gave an eye-crinkled smile. "But of course."

They laughed and walked out of the forest once more, Kakashi walking Lina home. When the arrived, Lina turned to Kakashi and shyly said, "Well, this is me. I'll see you…2 days from today for training. Oh, um...if I don't see you and you go on a mission, be careful, alright?" She blushed lightly, unsure if she was or wasn't supposed to say that.

Kakashi's gaze softened and he nodded. "You too. Send a message over if you have a mission." Lina nodded and turned away, unlocking the front door. As she closed the door, she gave Kakashi a small smile before she turned away.

"Kurenai, I'm back!"

"Hi, Lina. So, you spent the night with Kakashi, eh?" Kurenai sat in the kitchen eating a bowl of fruit, smiling. Lina grinned and nodded.

"Yeah, just came back from training and all."

"So? How are things going with you two?" Kurenai raised an eyebrow as she surveyed Lina's appearance, taking in her dirty training clothes. The two women talked for a while before Lina began getting ready to go out with the girls.

XXX

"Lina nee-san!" Tenten shouted over the noise in the club, waving frantically at Lina, who was weaving through a rather large group of dancers. Finally making it to the other side, she waved back and smiled, walking over.

"Hey girls! It's been a while." They all sat down, ordering a round of drinks.

"Lina, why don't you put your hair down?" Ino asked yet again. Lina rolled her eyes and shook her head. "No way. I'm keeping it up."

"Hey there little lady. I saw you walking through that crowd, and I thought, an angel's just come down from heaven. But now that I look at you, aren't you a little young to be in here?" An unfamiliar voice spoke up behind her, and Lina felt an arm wrap around her shoulder. Glancing down, she didn't recognize the hand, so she got up and turned to see a very drunk and very red shinobi breathing down her neck. Grimacing, Lina quickly slid out of his grasp and said, "Hands off, please and thank you."

"My my, aren't you polite?" The shinobi slurred, laughing drunkenly as he grabbed her waist and brought her closer. Lina's gaze hardened and she warned, "Get your hands off me." She was in the habit of giving people second chances when they were drunk, but she wasn't so nice as to let them touch her unwantedly.

"Aww, don't be like that. Why don't we find somewhere quiet to get to know each other better?" The shinobi apparently was too drunk to realize how stupid he was being. Taking hold of his wrists, Lina gripped them tightly and said, "I said, hands off. I won't ask again." She watched with a mixture of mild amusement and disgust as the shinobi struggled to get out of her grasp before he stumbled into her, still tittering. Finally, he gave up trying and nodded sloppily.

"Fine, I get it."

Satisfied, Lina let go and turned away from him, facing the girls again, who were all matching her with disgusted faces and rolled eyes. No sooner had she opened her mouth to talk to them, she felt two large hands on her waist again.

"Gotcha." The shinobi slurred.

Her hands clenched into fists, Lina's eyes fell upon a lopsided grey hairstyle that she knew all too well. Smirking at Kakashi, whose eye was boring into hers, she grabbed hold of the shinobi's fingers and bent them backwards painfully, making him yell out and let go of her waist. She turned back towards him and gripped his wrists again, pulling them towards her and bringing her knee up to knee him in the groin. The shinobi groaned loudly, several other shinobi turning and making pained faces as they watched.

Lina let go of the drunk shinobi's wrists and said quietly, "I told you I wouldn't ask again."

Turning back around, Lina ignored the shinobi's groans and sat back down on her seat, her eyes meeting with Kakashi's. She smiled briefly, noticing his eyes soften slightly. Turning back to the girls, she was just in time to hear Ino say, "Jeez, some men are animals."

Lina coolly said, "Oh I don't mind animalistic men. I just prefer them in the bedroom." She winked at Ino, who grinned and winked back, Tenten snorting, the three of them dissolving into giggles as Sakura and Hinata blushed. Lina suddenly felt somewhat stifled, and stood up, saying, "I'll be right back. Getting some air." She breezed through the crowd nodding to Genma and pointing out the girls to Raidou to show him where she'd be. As she walked pasted Kakashi, she briefly squeezed his hand and tugged it slightly before letting go and walking out of the club.

Kakashi watched with amusement how Lina handled the drunk idiot who'd put his paws on her. He knew she could take care of herself, which was why he hadn't bothered to help her. Of course, if she'd had any problems, he would have stepped in right away, seeing as she was his girlfriend, even if they were the only two people who knew it. He watched her get up and head in his direction, stopping to talk to Genma and Raidou before she walked right past him after a brief nod. He wondered if he should reach out to her, but in the next moment he felt her grab his hand and pull it slightly, indicating he should follow her. Looking back, he noticed Raidou staring at him with an unreadable expression. Kakashi gave him an eye-crinkled smile, revealing nothing, but Raidou just shook his head slightly and tilted his chin towards her, as if he were telling Kakashi to 'just go already'. Kakashi nodded surreptitiously and made his way towards the door, vaguely saying "I'll be back." to Genma, who was already flirting away with some random girl.

Lina walked out of the club, heading into a small side street to (hopefully) wait for Kakashi. She didn't need to wait long for Kakashi, as she soon felt his chakra signature coming her way. As soon as she saw him round the corner into the side street, Lina grabbed his arm and pulled him in, her heart racing delightfully at the thought of sneaking around. Once the two of them were enshrouded by the shadow of the two buildings surrounding the alley, Lina quietly said, "Hi."

Kakashi stared down at her, taking in her appearance now that she was out of the crowded club. It was a warm night, so she'd picked out a pair of flowery capris that accentuated her bottom and waist nicely, and kept it simple with an off-the-shoulder baggy t-shirt, wearing sandals with a bit of a heel, making her look a little taller. Simple, but with her shoulders showing, Kakashi couldn't help but remember their nights together. He heard her speak, and lowly said, "Hi", still staring down at her.

Lina shivered under Kakashi's stare, and placed her hands on his chest, her heart soaring as she felt his body through his shinobi uniform. Looking up, she said, "If I'd known you were going to be here, I would've dressed up." She heard Kakashi growl softly, as he leaned closer into her.

"I saw that guy try to feel you up. Are you alright?"

Lina smiled and nodded. "Yeah, you also saw me kick him in the boys, right?" She chuckled as she watched him wince. Reaching up, Lina cupped his face and said softly, "Kiss me."

Kakashi looked down at her and smirked, saying, "And why don't _you_ kiss _me_?"

Lina raised an eyebrow and said warily, "I would, but I'm a smidge too short." She watched Kakashi bend down until he was near her height. She did _not_ like where this was heading.

"How's this?" Kakashi teased.

Lina pursed her lips, not liking being babied. She quickly took off his hitai ate and flicked his forehead before she shoved it into his hand and turned away with a huff.

"Ow!" Kakashi rubbed his forehead, confused. He looked up just as Lina was about to leave the alley and quickly pulled her back. "Hey, what's wrong?" He tried to lift Lina's face up so he could see her, but she turned her head away, her mouth still set in a thin line. Realizing, he quickly said, "Alright, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have teased you. Forgive me?" He rubbed his hands up and down her arms, and finally she looked up. He could see her face, and she was still hurt, but she nodded and said quietly, "Don't do it again. Okay?"

Kakashi nodded and hugged her close. Pulling away, he pulled down his mask and kissed her softly, saying "I'm sorry" once more. He wanted to say more, but given where they were, he thought better of it, deciding to tell her when they were alone. Kissing her again, more deeply this time, Kakashi said, "So, are we going to stay here and make out until someone finds us, or are we going in?" He'd hoped the question would sound teasing, and he smiled as he felt Lina giggle through her nose.

Lina smiled and said against his mouth, "Hm, I suppose we should go back. We can always continue this another time." She pushed him upwards so that he was standing straight, and hugged his waist, her head on his chest. She felt Kakashi wrap his arms around her and hug her back, neither of them saying anything. Finally, Lina let go of Kakashi's waist and took hold of his hand, pushing her fingers through his and holding it in both of hers, squeezing it as a silent 'thank you'. Kakashi squeezed her hands back and used his other hand to lift her chin up so he could kiss her again, his thumb tracing her jawline. He felt her loosen her hold on his hand, and bring hers up to his face again, and he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her into him. After a moment, they both pulled away, Lina's hands smoothing down his sleeves.

"We'd better go before Ino or someone comes out to find me, or Genma-never mind, I forgot who I was talking about." Lina laughed, and Kakashi chuckled, pulling up his mask.

"Yeah, I doubt he'd come out to find me when there are still plenty of women he hasn't made out with still in there. Good job hiding your bruises by the way."

Lina lifted her hand to her neck and traced the pattern that was there before, and smirked. "I'd love to see everyone's faces when they see the marks, but I like keeping this private even more." They walked out of the alley and into the club, weaving through the crowded floor and meeting their friends once more. As they neared their friends, they found that the group was split in two, boys versus girls. Sharing a look, they silently said goodbye as they joined their respective genders, acting like nothing had happened.

"Hey girls, I'm back."

"Lina nee-san, where'd you go?" Hinata asked, handing her the drink she'd ordered before she left (with Kakashi). Lina sniffed it, making sure it was what she'd ordered, and took a sip. "I went outside for a bit of air, it's so loud in here!" She turned around, scanning the crowd before she took another sip. Turning back, Lina asked, "So, what'd I miss?"

"Sakura got hit on by that guy over there, poor guy." Ino said tartly, winking at a young shinobi who was making eyes at her while she waved her hand over in another direction.

"Ino! The guy was a complete moron!" Sakura growled out, flushing pink.

"I'm not arguing, I'm just saying, you didn't have to be so harsh." Ino laughed, waving her hand dismissively at the girls.

Lina leaned in, resting her chin on her palm as the elbow sat on top of the table and said, "Oooh, do tell more! I miss talking about boys." She grinned, listening to Sakura complain about some stupid line the poor soul had thought would win him the company of the pretty pinkette, with Ino interjecting every now and then to comment. By the end of the story, Lina was laughing while patting Sakura on the back.

"Oh, poor you, but poor him too! I can't believe you punched him that hard! Then again, I should expect nothing less than that from Tsunade-sama's apprentice, ne?" Lina chuckled, and the girls giggled. As the music changed, Lina suddenly found herself being dragged out of her seat onto the dance floor. Protesting, she tried to drag her hand out of Ino's grip, but the younger girl was surprisingly strong, and soon Lina was out on the floor with the rest of the girls. Since she was wearing 2 inch heels, she now stood at the same height as Hinata, the shortest of the group, although not by much.

"Come on Lina, dance!" Ino was already swaying to the music, Tenten doing the same. Lina raised an eyebrow and shook her head.

"Nope. Uh uh. No way." She walked back to the table and sat down, ordering another drink and watching the girls dance smilingly.

"Hey." Lina looked up to see Raidou standing in front of her. Giving him a warm smile, she said, "Hey yourself. Come join me?" She patted the seat of the chair next to her, and Raidou slid into it, setting his cup on the table.

"So, what's up?" Raidou asked nonchalantly.

"Training, wondering what on earth is on that jounin exam, nothing new." Lina replied teasingly. "You're still set on not telling me, right?" She watched Raidou shake his head, and she fake-pouted, nudging him in the ribs.

"So you didn't ask Kakashi?"

"No, I actually forgot until just now. So come on, just a hint!" Lina tried to wheedle, but Raidou just smiled and shook his head.

"Just a hint about what?" Lina looked up to see Genma, Gai, Yamato, and Kakashi coming up to the table. Smiling, she nodded at them, making sure not to stare at Kakashi any more than usual, and said, "Oh, the jounin exams. I got nominated by Genma and Raidou, and I'm trying to wheedle information out of Raidou here," she shot a glare at the man sitting beside her, "but he's not giving anything up."

"Oh, dearest Lina-chan! You got recommended to take the jounin exams? Such wonderful news calls for a celebration! Come, another drink, on me!" Gai proclaimed loudly, and Lina grinned. Patting the seat on her other side, Lina said, "Just for that, you get to sit next to me too." She winked at him, only to immediately regret it when he gave her a shining wink and thumbs up back. Holding in a laugh, she said, "Come on, have a seat." The rest of the men joined her.

"So how's your training going?" Raidou asked, and Lina turned to him.

"Oh no you don't! Don't try and change the subject on me. What's in the exam? What can I expect, come on! Guys, wanna help me out?" She turned her gaze to the other men. Genma, already disinterested, had his head turned away to admire the girls in the room, so he was out. Lina looked over at Yamato, whom she didn't know very well.

"Yamato-san? Could you give me a hint as to what I should expect?"

Yamato thought for a moment, and said, "Well, it's not just one exam. It's got a mental component and a physical component. How's that?" Lina's face brightened up and she nodded eagerly.

"Oh, that's great, thanks! Okay, so for the mental component, I'm guessing the Interrogation and Torture Team would be the ones testing, right? Hm, so then, Ino's father, um, Yamanaka Inoichi, and that really big and tall guy, Ibiki?" She watched the group for confirmation, receiving it when she felt Raidou shift in his seat. She turned to him and grinned cheekily.

"I'm right, aren't I?"

"I'm not saying another word."

"But Raidou, you haven't said ANYTHING!" Lina whined, making Gai laugh.

"Oh Lina, fair flower of Konoha, how correct you are in your suspicions! Come now, Raidou, what's the harm in letting her know?"

Lina grinned and said, "THANK YOU, Gai." She nudged Raidou between the ribs and chuckled. As she laughed, she caught Kakashi's gaze, and suddenly stopped, feeling the intensity go right through her. Shifting her eyes away, she smiled at Yamato and took a sip of her drink, suddenly feeling very warm.

Soon, the girls came back to the table, and pulled up chairs to sit with Lina, none of them quite as familiar with the men as she was. She quickly told the girls that she was going to take the jounin exams, and Ino, Sakura, and Tenten promptly shrieked, rushing to hug her as Hinata smiled happily and hugged her too. Lina laughed and turned to the men in the table, all staring at the girls. Pointing to the girls, she said, "Now THIS is what I'm talking about!" She laughed and hugged the girls once more and settled back into her seat.

"Oh, Lina nee-san, this is wonderful!" Hinata was chattering happily, and Lina grinned.

"Well, it's about time, don't you think? After all, I'm not getting any younger."

"Plus you have the skills." Raidou put in, and Lina smiled warmly at him.

"Almost there, but not quite. Kakashi's training me, which is why you haven't had training with him, Sakura." Lina explained, and Sakura nodded.

"Oh I know, he told us he wouldn't be around much, but I didn't know that this was why." The two girls look over at Kakashi, smiling before Sakura turned back to talk to Ino. Lina's smile softened for a second as she connected gazes with Kakashi, before she turned back to the girls.

"Hey, Tenten, where are the boys?" Tenten looked over from listening to Ino and Sakura bicker and said, "They're at the barbeque place." Lina looked around for the time and found a clock.

"This late? It's nearly 10pm! Kiba and Shino know we have training tomorrow right?" She asked Hinata, who nodded.

"Umm, Lina, you do know that you're out late too, and you have training too, right? So what's the difference?" Kakashi asked, having finally come out of a conversation with Gai. Lina turned to him and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, but...but...but girls are much more responsible that guys! Right?" She turned to the girls for confirmation, which she got readily. Smiling, she looked back at Kakashi.

"No you're not!" Raidou pitched in, but Lina just shot him a teasingly annoyed look.

XXX

"Alright guys, I'm going home now. You girls be careful on your way home."

Lina waved the girls goodbye as she walked out of the half-empty club. Gai had headed off a while ago, citing important training he had to do with Lee tomorrow. Yamato and Raidou were still hanging around, both slightly drunk, and Genma had gone home with a girl about an hour ago. She vaguely felt Kakashi follow her out, but she kept walking until she was out of the club. Since she'd only had 3 drinks in nearly 4 hours, and water in between, she knew she wasn't drunk. She also knew, that she'd been feeling Kakashi's eye on her from the moment he sat down at her table, and she was just about to burst with the sexual tension. Turning her head, Lina waved Kakashi over and shyly said, "Walk me home?"

Kakashi trailed after Lina, and nodded at her offer to walk her home. They walked side by side, not saying much, but feeling the electricity between them. After a short while, since the club was so close to Lina's apartment, she turned to Kakashi and said, "Thanks. Good night, Kakashi." She closed her eyes and smiled as Kakashi trailed his fingers down her jawline. Opening her eyes, she quickly glanced around. Seeing no one, she pulled Kakashi down, taking off his mask and kissing him. Pulling away, she smoothed her hands down Kakashi's chest.

She felt Kakashi kiss her cheek and murmur teasingly, "Aren't you going to tell me to be careful on my way home?" Lina blushed and sank her head into Kakashi's chest, remembering the dinner they'd had before they started sleeping together.

After a moment, she nuzzled his shoulder and said softly, "Be careful on your way home." She felt Kakashi chuckle and kiss her temple before they pulled away. Entering her apartment, Lina gave Kakashi a shy smile before she closed the door, quietly going to her room, since Kurenai was already asleep.

Crawling into bed in a thick-strap pink tank top and matching boxers, Lina lay her head down and closed her eyes. But despite her exhaustion, she found that she couldn't for the life of her fall asleep. Rolling over, she tried to sleep on her side, but she still felt unsettled. After several very long minutes, Lina finally got up with a huff, blowing her hair out of her face as she rubbed the heels of her palms into her eyes. Finally, she lay on her front, face planted in the pillow, her arms under the pillow and tried to fall asleep. After 5 minutes, Lina groaned.

"Can't sleep?" Lina bolted upwards, whirling around to see Kakashi standing at the foot of her bed. Getting up, she stared up at him.

"Kakashi? What are you _doing_ here?" She unconsciously found herself walking up to him, her hands going up his chest as she stared up at him. In the dim moonlight shining through her window, she could see that he still had his mask on, so she could only look at his eye for emotional cues.

Kakashi looked down at her, smiling under his mask, and wrapped his arms around her waist. Gods, it felt good to hold her, even if they'd just said goodbye less than an hour ago. "I had a feeling you wouldn't be able to sleep."

Lina's eyebrows rose and she let out a snort of laughter. "Oh, yeah right! Admit it, you couldn't sleep, and you came to find me." She watched Kakashi shake his head. "I'll admit no such thing." Lina giggled and walked him to the bed. Getting on it, she stood up and faced Kakashi. Since the bed was pretty high, Lina now stood several inches taller than Kakashi, his gravity-defying hair included. Smiling down at him, Lina rested her hands on his shoulders to steady herself.

"Mm, would you look at that?" She smirked down at Kakashi and tilted his face up, loving that she was now taller than him, even if it was with a little help. Slowly pulling his mask down, Lina's eyes softened as she saw his full face again. Bending down, she captured his lips in hers, still feeling the high of being taller. Pulling away, Lina was surprised when she felt Kakashi wrap his arms around her hips and bury his face in her chest, as she did to him.

"I like this." Lina grinned as she heard Kakashi's muffled voice in her chest, and she mirrored his usual response by wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing the top of his head, nuzzling his hair. "Me too."

"But…" Kakashi deliberately trailed off, making Lina pull away and look down at him, surprised.

"But?" Lina prompted." Kakashi pulled her down so that she was bending to his level and said quietly, "I prefer your normal height." before he kissed her softly. Lina's heart soared as she heard him say those words, and she ran her fingers massaging through his hair. Whispering into his lips, Lina said, "Come sleep with me? Just sleep though." She felt Kakashi nodded and she smiled, giving Kakashi a delicate peck on the lips before she dragged him onto the bed.

Reaching the head of the bed, Lina began slowly taking off Kakashi's hitai ate. Placing it on her bedside table, she leaned up and kissed his scarred eye softly, leaning her forehead to his before she began removing his jounin vest, which he for some reason was still wearing. She helped him shrug out of it and was about to get off the bed to hang it up when she felt Kakashi pull her back.

"Just put it on the floor." Lina looked back at him and nodded, moving back into his arms. Hugging him tightly, she said, "Shirt. On or off?"

"I don't care." Kakashi replied. He felt her nod and begin to pull it off. Smiling, he lifted his arms up and pulled them out of the sleeves. He watched and felt her run her hands up his chest saying, "I prefer it off." Kakashi grinned and bent down to kiss her, his hands diving under her tank top, but not getting too frisky. Lina smiled into the kiss and brought her hands to his arms, feeling the muscles beneath them.

Taking a breath, she looked down and softly asked, "Pants? On or off?" She hadn't meant for it to sound so, sexual, but immediately she and Kakashi let out a snort and laughed. Shaking her head, she said smilingly, "Not what I meant, but whatever."

Kakashi rubbed small circles into her waist and said jokingly, "Are you sure?" Lina looked up at him and rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'm sure."

Kakashi chuckled and nodded. "Well then, it's your choice again." Lina raised her eyebrows and cocked her head to the side.

Grinning, she slowly undid the button and zipper of his pants, saying, "Off it is then." Kakashi let out a laugh before Lina quickly hushed him. "Shh, Kurenai's sleeping!" She giggled, her hand covering his mouth. Kakashi nodded, still chuckling, and quickly took off his pants, now only dressed in his boxers. Pulling open the covers, they slowly fell into bed side by side, hands on each other's waists. Tiredly, Lina brought her hand up to cover her yawn, suddenly feeling sleepy now that she had Kakashi next to her.

Kakashi watched her yawn and he smiled before the tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Softly kissing her forehead, Kakashi whispered, "Sleep." Lina nodded tiredly and closed her eyes, whispering, "Good night." Kakashi watched her sleep for a moment before he too closed his eyes, feeling calmer with her next to him. Funny how they'd only slept together for two nights, yet he missed her when he was in his own bed.

XXX

*BRIIIIIIIING!*

Lina groaned as her alarm went off at 7:30 in the morning, reaching her arm out to hit the OFF button. Opening her eyes, she smiled as she felt Kakashi groan and roll over beside her. She slowly got up and quietly said, "Good morning."

"Ugh, why do you have to get up so early?" Kakashi mumbled, his arm trying to pull her back to where her body had been keeping him warm. Lina smiled widely and crawled back into bed, cuddling up to him. She softly kissed his cheek, saying, "Because I have to train with Kiba, Hina, and Shino." She felt Kakashi pull her in tighter and she giggled, giddy with the happiness of waking up next to him. But she got up a moment later, grabbing her training clothes and softly padding out of the room.

On the way to the bathroom, she saw Kurenai emerge from her own bedroom. Smiling, Lina said, "Good morning." Kurenai smiled back, having gotten into the habit of waking up early as well. "Morning Lina. Training today?" Lina nodded and went into the bathroom before she remembered something. Poking her head out, Lina quietly said, "Kurenai, don't go in my room, okay? Kakashi's sleeping in there." She watched Kurenai's eyes light up and she grinned.

"Seriously? Wow, I didn't hear anything!"

Lina immediately shook her head, waving her hands in front of her. "No no, we just slept. Nothing happened."

Kurenai's face relaxed slightly, still smiling. "Oh, okay. Well, how long's he staying?"

Lina shrugged. "I'll ask him when I get out." Kurenai smirked and said, "You're really getting into the whole 'boyfriend/girlfriend' thing, eh?" Lina blushed and grinned, biting her lip slightly before she shut the bathroom door, but not before she heard Kurenai say, "By the way, those bruises sure are something. You may want to put a henge on before you leave, since you're keeping things quiet." Lina frowned and looked at the bathroom mirror, and then gasped and turned red as she saw the bruises Kakashi had made the day before. As she examined them, she saw that a few of them were not quite as noticeable anymore, but she shook her head at the thought of having to cover them up again.

Getting out of the shower, Lina padded into her bedroom to find Kakashi still sleeping on her bed. Grinning, she had the overwhelming urge to capture the moment, but unfortunately, she didn't have a camera. Instead, she opted for crawling onto the bed and kissing him awake. Since he was lying on his front, Lina carefully peeled the covers from his back and softly kissed the back of his neck, trailing kisses across his shoulder.

Kakashi felt a strange sensation on his back, making him awaken suddenly. As his mind adjusted, he realized the sensations were kisses. Grinning, he turned around and grabbed Lina, who he saw was dressed for training. Rolling the pair of them around, Kakashi ended up on top of her, grinning widely as he heard her giggle. "Good morning. That's a nice way to wake up."

Lina smiled up at him, her arms on his neck and nodded. "Sure beats the alarm clock, right?" She giggled as Kakashi nodded and bent down to kiss her, both of them sighing at the contact. Kakashi broke away from her, kissing her cheek and then settling into her neck, looking at his handiwork from the day before. Since Lina had dropped the henge she'd placed the day before on her bruises, Kakashi could see that they were now fading. Smiling, he quietly said, "How about I mark you up some more? It looks like some of my work is fading." Lina quickly gasped and said, "Oh my God Kakashi, don't you dare. I want to be able to wear clothes without having to henge each time!" She felt Kakashi chuckle into her neck, and she relaxed. Turning them over, Lina kissed him deeply, her fingers running through his hair, giggling as his hands began to move into her shirt. Breaking the kiss, Lina chided. "Now now, I have training. By the way, Kurenai wants to know how long you're staying." She felt Kakashi's groan rumble in his chest and she softly kissed the general spot.

"Do I have to leave now?"

Lina shook her head, her eyes coming back up to his face to look into his very sleepy eye. "Stay as long as you want, I don't mind. I'm sure Kurenai doesn't either, she's just asking." She watched Kakashi give her a lazy smile, and she softly kissed his beautiful lips. Murmuring into them, she said, "I'm going now, but I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"

Kakashi sat up at this. "Why tomorrow?" He watched Lina shrug and say, "Because we have training tomorrow?" Kakashi ran a hand through his hair and fixed Lina with a look. "You're not coming over tonight?"

Lina raised an eyebrow but smiled teasingly. "Do you _want_ me to come over tonight?" Kakashi's mouth twitched as he fought down a smile before he crawled to her and softly ran his finger down her jawline to her neck, grasping the back and drawing her into a deep kiss.

Lina hummed into the kiss, smiling before she opened her mouth to let his tongue in. Stopping to breathe, Lina drew away and said, "You are impossible to say no to." She mock-frowned at Kakashi, who just grinned at her, his hand still on the back of her neck. She kissed him once more before pushing him down onto the bed. "I'm going to go now before I'm really late. I'll see you...well, I'll see you when I see you." She winked and waved at Kakashi, taking one last look at him laying on the bed watching her before she closed the door.

Striding into the kitchen, Lina sat down at the table, grabbing a banana and an apple. Biting into the banana hurriedly, she nodded at Kurenai, who regarded her with an almost gleeful look.

"So? How long's he staying?" Lina swallowed and said, "I told him to stay as long as he wants, but he'll probably be out by mid-morning? What?" She looked at Kurenai, who was gaping at her.

"You told him what?! You can't tell Hatake Kakashi to stay as long as he wants, he'll never leave!"

Lina stared at her before returning to her banana. "I doubt he's _that_ bad."

Kurenai shook her head vehemently. "You don't know what he's like! Once, Asu-a friend of mine told me he told Kakashi to 'stay as long as he liked', and the bastard didn't leave for two weeks!"

Lina's eyes widened and she snickered. "Oh wow. Alright, alright I get it. I'll talk to him. I'll do it now, since I'm leaving anyway."

She walked into her bedroom and softly kissed Kakashi's temple. She didn't bother to wake him, simply writing a note for him and placing it on the bedside table next to his hitai ate.

_**Hey,**_

_**Kurenai says you apparently take things very literally, so I suppose this is a warning that you should leave after you wake up. Ridiculous, right? Oh well, I hope you have a good sleep. **_

_**Lina x**_

Finished, she softly combed her hand through his hair, smiling, before she silently left, waving goodbye to Kurenai.

XXX

Lina arrived at the training grounds, waving a hello to her teammates. She laughingly hugged and petted Akamaru as he come up and nearly bowled her over, before stopping on top of her and sniffing her, whining. Kiba ran over, hearing his ninken cry, and sniffed the air. Wrinkling his nose, Kiba asked, "Lina, why do you smell different?"

Lina stilled for a moment, remembering that her teammate had an impeccable sense of smell, much like Kakashi. _'Oh no, I smell like Kakashi.' _Plastering a smile on her face, Lina quickly came up with a lie. "Oh, I was helping out an old lady on my way here, and she hugged me." Lina averted her eyes, knowing they would be the thing that gave her away. Luckily, her teammates just shrugged and let it go, and they began training.

"Hey Lina, we heard that you made the cut to take the jounin exams. Congrats!" Kiba said, Akamaru barking. Lina grinned. "Thanks! Yeah, I'm super-nervous."

"Don't be. Why? Because you must have the skills, otherwise you wouldn't be recommended." Shino quietly said, and Lina nodded. "Thank you, Shino-kun."

They began going through drills, doing their usual two vs. three sparring before they helped each other work on developing new techniques they were working on. Since Lina had managed to rein in her skills with Sound jutsus, she was now comfortable enough to train using the techniques. She was learning to swerve the sound waves and focus them on moving targets, and she had slowly learned to put a cap on the intensity to stun her opponents rather than blow their heads up. Working with her team, Lina found that she was improving exponentially, having three very different styles come at her while she trained and improved her Sound jutsus, and she knew that soon, she would be able to consider them a part of her repertoire for the jounin exams.

"Oh hey! Did you hear about the Yamanakas?" Kiba asked, panting. They were stopping for a break, and the team was sitting in the shade, resting. Lina turned to him and asked, "What about them?"

"Well, last night, apparently one of the main houses of their compound got burned down. It was a pretty big deal because apparently the flames weren't normal. They were black."

Lina gasped and sat up. "Oh my God, is everyone alright?"

Kiba nodded. "Yeah, everyone's fine. Ino was out, she was with you girls right? And her parents were with the Naras with Choji's family. You know how the three families are connected, right?"

Lina nodded, relieved. "Oh my God, I can't believe it. But black flames? That's different. A jutsu?"

"The jounin aren't saying much, but I overheard my mother talking to Hana, saying it was an Uchiha jutsu." Kiba said, his face darkening. "Kiba. You don't know what you're talking about. Stop repeating unverified facts." Shino reprimanded, and Kiba glowered.

"An Uchiha jutsu? But all the Uchihas are dead except Itachi's younger brother, and he's a missing nin. Don't you think the village alarm would have sounded or something if he were back?" Lina murmured speculatively.

Shino nodded and turned back to Kiba. "Exactly. Which is why I told you not to repeat unverified facts."

Kiba's face turned red as he looked between the two of them. Jumping up, he said, "Fine! Don't believe me!"

Lina's eyes rose up to meet his and she smiled apologetically. "No, Kiba, it's not that. Sorry, I was just talking to myself, it's not like I don't believe you. I just….hmm. But why the Yamanakas? You're right, there's no way that it was random."

"I think it would be best for us to keep training, I'm sure the jounin can handle the situation. And no one got hurt, ne, nee-chan?" Hinata said quietly, having only been listening while fidgeting in her lap.

Lina looked over to her and saw the worry in her face, and she smiled confidently, placing a hand over the girl's hands. "You're right, Hina. We'll be fine. And besides, in a few short months, I'll be tested to become one of the jounin, so I'd better get my act together, ne?" She grinned as Hinata smiled, and they set to work again.

XXX

After training and lunch, Lina said goodbye to her team, heading home to shower and change. Arriving at the apartment, she casually said, "I'm back."

"In here." Lina took off her shoes, furrowing her eyebrows when she noticed several pairs of shoes. She walked into the living room and found Genma, Raidou, Aoba, Yamato, Gai, Kakashi, and another shinobi sitting and lounging around with Kurenai on the single-seater loveseat. Her eyes flickering around, Lina's gaze rested on Kakashi's before she smiled at the group.

"Hi everyone, umm...I'm going to go change."

"Lina-chan! Welcome home, beautiful flower! Was training as fruitful as you'd hoped? Perhaps one day you will allow me the honor of training with you." Gai said loudly, and Lina grinned, shaking her head. "Gai, unless you want to kill me, I don't think that's a good idea. I don't think anyone except Kakashi and Lee can keep up with you." She chuckled along with the rest of the group before walking away. She padded into her room, very aware of the fact that she had all eyes watching her and no one speaking. Closing the door, she heard muffled sounds and immediately heightened her hearing.

"So, the black flames." _'That would be Genma.'_

"It's an Uchiha technique." _'Aoba? Wait, did he say, Uchiha?'_

"But they're all dead!" _ 'That must be Kurenai, she's the only female in there. What are they saying about the Uchihas?'_

"Not all of them…" _ 'Wow, I've never heard Gai sound so serious…'_

"Sasuke-kun?" _'Hmm, I don't recognize the voice. Must be the shinobi I don't know.'_

"...Yeah." _ 'Kakashi...what the hell is going on?'_

"Shit, Kakashi, what the hell is wrong with your teams? Obito, Rin, Sasuke-" "-Genma, shut up." There was a short pause as Lina heard someone (she was assuming Raidou) hit Genma over the head.

"But, how on earth did he get in with no one noticing?"

"He was always good at concealing himself."

"Yeah, but _that_ good?" _ 'That would be Yamato-san. Hmm, he's right, how can he be THAT good?'_

"Well, he _was_ trained by Orochimaru. We can't think of him as a child anymore." Lina took in a deep breath. Orochimaru? As in, one of the Legendary Sannin, Orochimaru? This was serious. Realizing she'd been in the room far too long, Lina quickly changed and came out, plastering a smile on her face.

"Hey guys. So, what's everyone doing here?" Her eyes travelled around the group, seeing their expressions change to blank canvases as soon as she entered. All except Kakashi, whose visible eye was smiling slightly.

"Oh, nothing much. Are you back from training?" Raidou said quickly. Lina nodded and sat down on an armrest next to Kurenai. Looking at the shinobi she didn't recognize, she politely nodded her head and said, "Hi, I'm Sasaki Lina."

The shinobi nodded and smiled a little cockily. "Ebisu. So, you're the eldest Sasaki sibling. You're...different from what I imagined."

Lina smiled and cheekily said, "I know I know, I get that a lot. So-" Just then, there was a knock on the front door. Looking up, Lina frowned and looked at Kurenai. "Were you expecting someone?" Kurenai shook her head, and Lina got up to answer the door. Outside stood an ANBU shinobi.

"Sasaki Lina, you have been assigned a mission. Take this." The gruff voice behind the mask handed her a black scroll, different from her usual missions, and she immediately understood the reason. Straightening up, she nodded seriously. "Understood." She wondered why Tsunade hadn't called her into the office, but that wasn't important. This was an assassination mission. She'd done a couple of them in the short while that she'd been back, but they had been colored red, indicating a B-ranked mission. A black one meant an A-ranked assassination, jounin-level, with a white one being S-ranked, not that she'd ever gotten any.

"This is a solo mission, but because you are a chuunin, you are permitted one jounin accompaniment." The ANBU shinobi went on to say, and Lina nodded. "And why am I being assigned a jounin-mission when I'm only due to take the exam in 4 months?"

"All jounin candidates are assigned at least one jounin mission before they do their exam, to prepare them for the real thing." Lina nodded in understanding and thought. Having a jounin accompany her would certainly improve her chances of succeeding, plus it would be helpful to learn from a jounin. She opened the scroll and quickly scanned the contents of the mission.

**'You have 4 days. Target: the Kuro Hebi Gang's leader Tanaka Chi. Whereabouts: Last seen in Tanzaku Quarters. Return to the village in 4 days regardless of the successfulness of the mission.'**

Lina bit her lip and turned around, scanning the room. Genma, Raidou, or Kakashi would be the obvious choices, since she'd worked with them before. Out of the three, Lina found Kakashi's tracking abilities the most suitable to her own, plus she would feel much more confident with him around. Turning her gaze from Kakashi, Lina said to the ANBU, "Hatake Kakashi will be the jounin accompanying me." The ANBU nodded. Lina felt Kakashi walk over to the pair of them, and the ANBU handed him a different scroll. "These are the rules for what you can and cannot do on the mission. Read them and follow them, err, senpai." Lina's eyebrows raised and she laughed through her nose as the ANBU stumbled slightly through his words.

"Got it." Kakashi said, nodding. The ANBU turned back to Lina and said, "You are to leave tomorrow at sunrise. Follow the instructions in the mission scroll to the letter." Lina nodded and saw the ANBU leave, as she turned back to the rest of the group. Looking at Kakashi, she said, "Well, how about we discuss this in my room?" She cringed inwardly at how sexual that had sounded, and immediately heard Genma laugh.

"Lina, are you hitting on Kakashi?" Lina turned and glared at him, rolling her eyes. "No, idiot. We can't discuss this with other people around, you know that." Sighing, she stalked to her room, Kakashi trailing behind her. Entering, she quietly said, "Please shut the door. Do you know a sound-proofing jutsu?" Kakashi nodded, turning back to sound proof all four walls of her bedroom. Done, Lina sat on the bed, taking her hair down and running a hand through it. She sighed and placed her face in her hands. From her side, she felt Kakashi sit down next to her and wrap his arm around her shoulders, pulling her to him.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Lina nodded, burying her face in his chest. "I'm fine. I just hate doing these types of missions. Plus, this one is an A ranked mission, so I'm kind of nervous." Kakashi pulled his mask down and kissed her forehead. "Don't be. I'll be there the whole time. You'll be fine." Lina nodding, her arms still around him, and sighed. She softly said, "You know I didn't pick you because we're sleeping together, right?" Kakashi chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, I know. I'm glad you did though." Lina looked up at him and smiled. "Me too. Come on then, let's see what your scroll says. What are and aren't you allowed to do?" Kakashi nodded and picked up the scroll, unrolling it.

**'Rules for Accompanying Jounin**

**Jounin must accompany the original mission-holder everywhere.**

**Outside of the village walls, no information gathered by you may be relayed to the original mission-holder.**

**Unless in dire situations, no help shall be provided during battle.'**

"Seriously, that's it? You have to follow me everywhere, you can't tell me anything outside of the village walls, and you can't help me unless I'm hopelessly out of my depth. Okay, I can do this." Lina said, mentally encouraging herself. Kakashi looked down at her and smiled. "You'll be fine. Now, what's the mission?"

Lina handed him the scroll, and he quickly scanned the contents. Nodding, he said, "I've heard of the gang. They travel-" Kakashi found his voice muffled by Lina's hand as she hushed him.

"We can talk about this later, can't we? She said softly, reaching up to take off his hitai ate. "Did you get my note?" Kakashi nodded, his gaze softening as he looked down at her. Smiling, Lina pulled him down, both of them falling onto the bed, her hands reaching up to cup his face. Looking up at him, she said, "Do you have any idea how much I wanted you before I left this morning?" Kakashi grinned down at her and bent down to kiss her lips sweetly. "I'll bet not half as much as I wanted you the moment I woke up and found you gone. By the way, your panties drawer is _very_ interesting." He chuckled as he heard her gasp and snort.

"Kakashi! You perv!" Lina teased, her hands coming to rest on his arms. She kissed him softly before pushing him away and sitting back up. "Alright, back to work. So, this mission. You said you've heard about the gang."

They began discussing the details, Kakashi gave her as much information as he could about them, but it wasn't much. Still, they had two days to kill the gang leader. It would take them a day to get there, a day to come back, so two days in between to plan and execute the assassination, possibly a brief stakeout. They discussed strategies, and soon they had come up with several scenarios for which Lina could confidently get herself out of without Kakashi's help. Of course, him being there was a great safety net, just in case.

"So, the leader, Tanaka Chi, is always surrounded by at least 4 of her best guards."

"-Right, but all of her guards are men. And none of them are shinobi, which means she's the only real problem." Lina interjected, only to be interrupted by Kakashi as well.

"-No. You can't think like that, because all of the guards are highly skilled in fighting with shinobi, since she is one. Their skills are on par with Gai's taijutsu, so you'll need to stay on your toes." Kakashi warned, and Lina frowned. On par with Gai? That would be a problem. Thank God she'd been working on taijutsu with Kakashi, but she wasn't sure it would be enough. Evidently, her misgivings were showing in her face, because Lina found herself being pulled into a deep, sensuous kiss.

"It's going to be alright. You can do this. We've trained, and you're good. Have a little confidence in yourself, okay?" Kakashi said quietly, and he smiled down at Lina when he felt her nod against him and kiss him back. Smirking, he softly pecked her lips and took the scrolls out of her hands and onto the bed. "Now, why don't we stop working and do something I_ know_ you're confident in?" He trailed his fingers up her side, gently tickling her.

Lina giggled and squirmed. "Eeks, Kakashi, your hands are so cold! How are they so cold when it's summer?" Kakashi chuckled and pushed her down on the bed. "Then how about you warm me up?" Lina smirked up at him. "Really? With everyone outside? That's...actually kinda hot." Kakashi grinned down at her and kissed her deeply, his hands wandering. Lina gasped as Kakashi's hands moved and quickly pulled away. "Oooh, okay no. Too cold. Here, give me your hands." Lina sat up and reached for Kakashi's hands. Taking one in both of hers, she softly pulled off his fingerless glove, doing the same with his other hand. Taking hold of both hands, she brought them to her lips and softly kissed them before she placed them on her neck, closing her eyes and shuddering at the sudden coldness.

As she felt his hands warm up, she relaxed, humming at the feel. Opening her eyes, Lina leaned in to kiss Kakashi, her tongue flicking out to lick his bottom lip. She brought her hands to his chest, gripping his jounin flak vest and softly touched her lips to his again. She slowly removed his hitai ate, dropping it to the floor, and he removed hers from her neck, doing the same. Kakashi's hands moved downwards to the hem of her shirt, and Lina gasped at the sensation of his fingers on her skin. Hesitating, Kakashi asked, "Cold?" Lina shook her head and smiled almost shyly. "No, I just really want to kiss you." Kakashi grinned and pushed her into the bed, crawling on top of her and kissing her, only to feel her push him away.

Looking down, he asked, "What?"

Lina looked up at him and said, "I just want to kiss you. Nothing more. I don't think I'm quite ready to do it with nearly every single jounin that I know sitting in the next room." She watched Kakashi's face fall, and she softly kissed him, rubbing her hands on his chest. Pushing him down onto the bed, Lina lay on her side, her fingers tracing random patterns into his chest. She wanted to ask him about what she'd heard, but she didn't know how to start. Finally, she took a deep breath and said quietly, "I heard what you guys were saying about the black flames. It's an Uchiha jutsu?"

She watched his face harden slightly, and she propped her head up on her hand, her elbow planted on the bed, and waited for him, wondering if he was going to respond or not. Finally, she saw him sigh and nod. She waited for him to say something, but he didn't, so she just watched him as he avoided her gaze. She wanted to ask him about what Genma had said, about his team. She'd heard names, Obito and Rin, who were they? She wanted to know more, but it wasn't the time, and she had no right to ask him.

Deciding to break the silence, Lina leaned over and softly kissed his cheek, saying, "It's a good thing no one got hurt. I can't help thinking how lucky the Yamanakas are that Ino's parents were out, and Ino was with us at the club."

Kakashi turned to look at her, noticing her voice softening, and he heard the underlying words._ 'It's alright. You don't have to say anything.' _Nodding, Kakashi turned his body to its side, so that he was facing her, and he placed his hand on her hip. "Yeah, they're lucky." Inwardly, he wasn't so sure. Was it luck that no one had been there, or was it a warning that had been planned _because_ no one was there? His mind was whirring, thinking of all the possibilities, but aside from Sasuke, there were no more Uchihas alive. So then, why? As he thought, Kakashi felt Lina's hand move up to his hair, and he looked into her eyes. He watched her smile softly, her fingers carding through his hair, and he slowly relaxed and pulled her closer to him.

Lina felt Kakashi relax under her fingertips, and she smiled, not stopping her fingers, and said, "How about we move up a little?" They were still sitting at the foot of the bed, and their legs were hanging off the edge, making their position lying on their sides increasingly uncomfortable. She watched Kakashi nod and they both got up, crawling to the top of the bed and laying down again, their heads on the pillows. Lina furrowed her eyebrows as she wondered why the position felt so different.

"What?" Kakashi asked.

Lina shook her head. "I just realized why this feels so different. We've switched sides." She smiled slightly, and watched Kakashi, waiting for him to smile back. He didn't, simply saying, "Do you want to switch?"

Lina shook her head again. "No it's fine." She began running her fingers through his hair again, and wiggled closer to him, wanting to see his beautiful smile once more. Kakashi slowly relaxed again under her fingers, but he still didn't smile. Her chest hurting for him, Lina pulled Kakashi towards her, but immediately felt him resist. Instantly stopping, Lina withdrew her hands, worried that she was making things worse. As soon as he felt her hands disappear, Kakashi reached out and took her hands in his own, bringing them back to his face. He felt Lina stiffen slightly, but she soon returned to holding him, and he brought his hands around her back, binding her to him as he bent his head down to nuzzle into her neck. They lay there together, just holding each other for a long time. Slowly, Lina felt Kakashi's breathing even out, and the weight of his body began to grow, his arms growing heavy around her. She tilted her head down to look at Kakashi, pulling away slightly, and saw that his eyes were closed. Settling back into place, Lina laid her head down on the pillow and rested her eyes, making sure not to fall asleep.

Nearly an hour later, Lina felt Kakashi stir in her arms, and she pulled away, smiling tentatively down at him when she saw his unscarred eye was open.

"Hey." She said softly, kissing him softly on the forehead. Kakashi looked up at her, slightly disoriented, before he remembered what had happened. Shaking his head, he raised himself up and smiled softly, returning the kiss with one on the lips. "Hey."

Lina looked at him, relief flooding her features as she saw his smile again. Rather than ask, Lina rolled on top of him and kissed him deeply, her hands resting on his shoulders. She sighed as she felt his arms come up to wind around her body, and he turned them around so that he was on top. Kissing her soothingly, Kakashi said teasingly, "That was a good nap." Lina raised an eyebrow and smiled, happy to see his sense of humor was back. She reached up and cupped his face in her hand, and asked, "Are you okay?" She saw Kakashi's gaze darken slightly, and he smiled down at her. Nodding, he said, "I'm fine." Lina bit her lip, knowing that he was putting up a wall between them, but she didn't say anything. Taking a hold of his hand, she gently kissed his fingers, closing her eyes and pouring all her concern into the kisses. Finished, she looked up at Kakashi and smiled, pushing him off of her and getting up.

Picking up her flak vest from the floor, she walked over to the closet in her room and hung it on a hanger. Turning back, she said, "Okay. So, we have to meet tomorrow at sunrise. I guess that means training is going to be out of the question for the next four days. Hm, I should tell Hina and the boys." She rummaged through her pack, trying to stay as far away from the topic of the black fire, or the Yamanakas, or Kakashi's team mates, or Uchiha Sasuke. Muttering to herself, Lina felt Kakashi come up behind her and wrap his arms around her, kissing her temple.

Kakashi watched Lina get up and hang her flak vest in her closet. Just by the way she was moving, he could tell that she wasn't alright. As she spoke, Kakashi watched her face, seeing it remain impassive, like a mask, so unlike her. Finally, he got up and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her temple and resting his chin on her head. He felt her stiffen for a moment, and he began running his hands up and down her arms soothingly. "The Yamanakas are fine. And _you_ will be fine on the mission tomorrow. I'll be right there if you need me, which you won't." He felt her giggle, and loosened his grip on her to let her turn around.

Lina looked up at Kakashi and said half-smilingly, "You need to stop using the word 'fine'. It's starting to sound weird." She laughed, and placed her forehead against his chest, feeling the reverberations of his chuckles. Pulling away, she looked into his face and asked more seriously, "And you?"

Kakashi looked down at her and asked, "What about me?" Lina looked back at him and said softly, "Are you okay?"" Her heart sank as she watched Kakashi's emotions slip away, a wall forming between them again. Kakashi slowly pulled away and said, "I'm fine." Lina, looking for something to lighten up the mood, immediately changed her expression and tweaked his nose, giggling. "I told you to stop saying that!" Kakashi let out a small laugh, and they wrapped their arms around each other again, even if it was now weighed down by built walls.

XXX

"You failed me. You know I don't accept failure, not when there were measures you could have used to prevent it. Take this as a warning. And the rest of you, take this as an example. I do not tolerate failure."

"Yes, Danzo-sama." A red-headed shinobi kneeled before the cane-wielding man, his insides quivering with an unknown emotion. What was this new emotion: Fear? Hatred? Worry? Fuu had no idea what to do with his newfound feelings, which had arisen when he found out he clan had been used as an example of Danzo-sama's strength. As he walked away, he felt Torune come up beside him. Neither spoke, not sure how to ask personal questions, as they'd never done so before, but somehow Fuu's emotions were shown to Torune. They glanced at each other, bewildered.

-end

Author's note: Alright, right off the bat I'd like to say one thing: yes, I know French toast isn't very Japanese, but I personally love it, and who says that the Narutoverse is Japanese, right? It's possible that they have all sorts of cuisines. After all, they have Korean barbeque, don't they? XD so yeah, please don't be mad about that inconsistency.

Secondly, about Lina's insecurities, and Kakashi apologizing, I realize that I'm making him apologize quite a bit, but she does have a lot of insecurities, as shown a bit from the last chapter. That's not to say that Kakashi doesn't have his own insecurities, because of course he does. Lina, while not apologizing, also is capable of appeasing him, as shown in the last scene with them together.

Thirdly, yes I know I could've ended it with them falling asleep together, but I really wanted to get the story moving along, not that the lovey dovey stuff isn't great, but I felt like it would get too boring eventually, better to get some action in too.

Fourthly, (goodness, so many!) I just want to mention that in my mind, Kakashi never has morning breath. He's too perfect for that. Who agrees with me? ;) (yes, I'm slightly in love with Kakashi. What else is new?)

And lastly, Fuu: he's a part of the Yamanaka clan, in case that wasn't clear. He's a canon character. Oh, and I wrote this chapter like 2 weeks ago with the idea that Fuu and Torune were close, so you can imagine how thrilled I was when I watched the latest Naruto Shippuden :D (ep 317)

Sooo, this chapter is done! XD damn, it's long too! Next chapter will probably be shorter. Ja Ne!


	22. Chapter 22

**Something I wanted to mention, just cuz it's somewhat relevant to the story: right after the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime, the Pain arc starts. Now, I personally want to develop more of the Lina/Kakashi/rest of the gang's relationships, so I'm stretching the time frame just a bit. Pain invasion won't come for a few chapters.**

As always, please review, comment, write something! I'm dying to know what you guys think. Ja ne! ;)

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. I do, however, own any original ideas or characters (such as Sasaki Lina) that I have created.

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Sasaki Lina is 29. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: **the Pain arc is still going to happen, I'm making Sasuke come back too, but Shinobi Alliance arc is still going to happen, as well as anything that didn't directly involve him in the anime/manga.** I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?) Enjoy!

_**PLEASE REVIEW! COMMENT, ANYTHING! THANKS :D**_

***Yeah, so remember how I said this chapter would be shorter? Yeah...not so much. LOL I hope you enjoy! (wow, this was my longest chapter yet!)

_**Chapter 22**_

"So, we're ready to go?" Lina asked Kakashi, her hands on her hips as she stood at the north gates leading in and out of Konoha. It was just a few minutes to sunrise, and they were all set to go on their mission (well, her mission). The pair had stayed in bed for approximately an hour longer the previous day, just holding each other while keeping their thoughts to themselves. Kakashi wasn't willing to talk, and Lina knew better than to ask, storing it in her mind for if there ever came a time where they were close enough to talk about more serious topics. As she looked at Kakashi now, she found that he had gone back to normal, and showed no hint of darkness in his gaze as he looked down at her.

"I'd say so, but is there anything you want to ask me? Remember, after we leave, I can't tell you anything." Kakashi reminded her, and Lina nodded.

"I think we're good. Oh wait a second, I do have one question. About the rules of what you can and can't do, how are they going to be enforced? I mean, are we being tailed by ANBU or something?"

"No, they're just rules that I have to make sure I follow, and I'll have to write a mission report alongside yours, and the Jounin Commander will review them both." Kakashi explained. Lina nodded thoughtfully and asked, "Who's the Jounin Commander?" Kakashi replied, "Nara Shikaku, Shikamaru's father."

"Oohh."

"Anything else?"

"Nope, I'm good. Let's go!" Lina grinned and took off running.

XXX

"It's good to be back." Kakashi sighed as he and Lina walked through the Main Gates of Konoha. They'd just finished their mission, a day in advance, so they weren't in too big of a rush to get to the Hokage office. He waved a hello to Kotetsu and Izumo, the two chuunin who were on gate watching duty, and turned to look at Lina warily. She'd been quiet the whole way back, only giving short, curt sentences to his attempts at conversation. As he watched her now, he saw that her back was still stiff as a board, and her shoulders were tense. Tapping lightly on her shoulder, Kakashi asked for second time, "Is everything alright?" He watched Lina turn and smile tightly.

"I'm fine. I'm just a little tired, so I'm going to submit the mission report and then head home."

Lina's eyes avoided Kakashi's gaze, not wanting him to see the self-loathing inside them. Each time she completed an assassination mission, she felt drained of emotions, and so much self-loathing. How could she kill someone in cold blood? True, this time it had been someone who had deserved the death, considering the Kuro Hebi leader Tanaka Chi was a cold blooded torturer who specialized in male genital mutilation. Supposedly, the leader had been raped as a young girl, and after killing her rapist, she'd developed a nasty habit of mutilating all of her male captives' sex organs. So, Lina hadn't felt _terrible_ about killing the woman, but still. Lina knew that eventually, she would have to kill someone not quite as horrible. If she could hardly bear to do it now, seeing the stunned look in the victim's eyes, how could she do it when she was ordered to kill everyone within sight, women and children included? Lina was beginning to second-guess herself, hating herself. But she knew her duty, and she _was_ loyal, dammit! But for right now, she needed to be alone. Or at least, that's what she thought she needed.

Kakashi watched Lina trudge off to the missions office, trailing behind her, and then followed her home, to make sure she would be alright. Making their way to her apartment, Lina turned to him and said, "I'm fine now. Thanks for walking me home." Kakashi looked at her and asked, "Do you want me to stay?" Lina bent her head down and shrugged noncommittally. She'd never had someone stay with her while she was going through one of her self-hatred moments, so she wasn't sure what to expect, but at the same time, she didn't want to push him away. She saw his hand come up and lift her chin up, but she couldn't bear to look into his eyes, feeling that she was unworthy of his concern for her.

Kakashi watched her eyes dart away, and he sighed. "I'll stay as long as you'll let me, okay?"

Lina nodded, and they both headed into the apartment. Lina nodded her head slightly as Kurenai called out to her from the couch, but didn't respond otherwise. Kakashi shot Kurenai a look, only to find that she was giving him one in return. Through the silent exchange, Kurenai told Kakashi to be careful with Lina, and Kakashi nodded back. Kurenai watched Kakashi enter Lina's room, closing the door quietly, and went back to her book, ready to shoo him away if he made things worse. Not that she thought he would, considering he was the best out of all the jounin (except perhaps Ibiki) at sensing a person's emotions.

Lina slowly took off her chuunin uniform and hitai ate, vaguely motioning Kakashi to have a seat on the bed. Kakashi watched her slow, heavy movements. The one thing he hadn't told her about the mission, was that he was supposed to report how she reacted to the aftereffects of the mission in his own report. How she coped with the killing, how well she handled the emotions charging through her. Now, he saw her slowly get into bed, sitting and curling herself into an upright ball, her arms wrapped around her knees, face in the space between, silent. He watched her for what seemed like an age, until finally he heard her say something softly.

"Kakashi. Hold me. Please." Lina whispered, unable to find comfort in herself alone. She had no idea if him holding her would help or hurt, but she felt like she was about to fly apart on a molecular level if she didn't have something anchoring her together. She felt Kakashi's hand rest on her back, and she shuddered slightly at the feel. Feeling him remove it, Lina quickly shook her head, her face still hidden in her arms. "Don't. Don't stop." She felt his hand come back to her shoulder and start rubbing soothing circles on her back. Lina raised her head, eyes closed, and breathed in a shuddering breath. Slowly, she opened her eyes, and turned to Kakashi. She slowly raised her gaze to meet his, and raised her arms out, crawling towards him. Finally, she wrapped her arms around him, her face buried into his neck, shuddering again at the feeling of his arms coming around her body. They sat there for a moment, Lina clinging onto Kakashi, breathing in his scent, as if he was the only reason in the world why she wasn't completely broken. Which was true. Finally, she spoke into his neck, softly saying, "Thank you."

Kakashi heard Lina softly thank him, and he wrapped his arms more tightly around her, not moving otherwise in case it disturbed her. He felt her move slightly in his arms, and he loosened his grip around her. Lina pushed herself up and saw that Kakashi's mask was still on. Slowly removing it, Lina softly kissed his lips, only licking and nibbling slightly, not letting it develop into something more. She looked into Kakashi's eye and softly ran her fingers through his hair. "Thank you Kakashi. For staying." Kakashi nodded at her, his eye probing hers to get a feel for her emotions. Lina leaned into him and kissed him a little deeper, running her tongue along his lips and then diving in when she felt him open his mouth for her. As they came up for air, Kakashi asked, "What do you need?" Lina looked into his eye and said breathlessly, "I need...a shower. Or a bath. I need to get rid of the smell of blood. I can still smell it and, and…" She began to shake as she relived the feeling of killing the leader and her henchmen. Kakashi immediately took her in his arms and kissed her temple, rubbing her back softly. "It's just your imagination. There isn't any smell anymore, but we'll get you into the shower. Come." He slowly led her out of her room, thankful that Kurenai was not in the living room anymore, and they made their way to the bathroom.

Kakashi quietly closed the door and turned on the bath function, slowly beginning to take off Lina's dress and undergarments. Lina stood stiffly at first, willing to let Kakashi do all the work, but eventually she began helping him remove his own. Finished stripping him, Lina leaned her head on his chest, her arms around him, feeling the warmth of his body. Kakashi wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head before he slowly walked her to the bath, getting in first so that he could steady her. They sank together into the water, and Lina sank her head into Kakashi's shoulder, her arms and hands resting on his chest. After a moment, she began kissing his neck, softly nuzzling it with her nose, her hands going under his arms and winding to grip his shoulders from behind. She placed soft kisses up his neck, making her way to his lips. Kissing him deeply, Lina moaned as she ran her wet fingers through his hair, catching on it slightly as the slipperiness met dry hair.

Suddenly, Lina pulled back quickly, her eyes growing wide and her heartbeat racing. Kakashi looked back at her, wary at the change, and saw that she was going into hysterics. "T-the-the bl-blood-the blood, I can-I can smell-it-I-" Lina stuttered, her eyes wide with fear, and he could see that she wasn't looking at him anymore, her eyes distant, as if she was remembering the fight. Kakashi quickly grabbed her, reaching for her body wash with his other hand. As he felt her begin to shake again, he pulled her to him, kissing her, feeling her respond hungrily, before he pulled back and said quickly, "No, Lina, no. Look, look at yourself. There's no blood. No more, it's done. Look." Lina took in a deep shuddering breath and looked down at herself unfocusedly, not caring that she was naked, and slowly she began to relax, not seeing any red on her.

"There's...no blood." She whispered. She saw Kakashi nod from the corner of her eye, and she looked back up at him. "There's no blood." She repeated, her voice growing steady. When she saw him look back at her, she threw herself at him, smashing their lips together in a hard kiss as she fought to remember that the mission was over, she was home, she was safe, with Kakashi. As she dropped rough kisses on his lips, she whispered, "there's no blood" like a mantra, until she'd finally calmed down. Dropping her head to his shoulder, Lina slowed her breathing, her body finally catching up with her brain in realizing that the fight was over, and she was safe again. Looking up again, Lina looked into Kakashi's open eye and said softly, "It's over."

Kakashi watched Lina slowly calm down after her minor breakdown, and nodded. Briefly wondering what she would have done if he weren't there, he reached up to cup her face, pulling her to him so that they were only a breath away from each other. "Yes, Lina. It's over." He softly kissed her lips before he bent down to kiss her collarbone. He felt Lina giggle and squirm in his lap as he tickled her neck with his hair, and he looked up to see a small smile make it's way across her face. Smiling back at her, he asked, "Are you better now?"

Lina smiled softly at Kakashi and nodded before she bent down to kiss him once more. "Yeah, I'm good again."

Kakashi's smile widened and he held up the bottle of body wash. "Shall I help clean you up then?"

Lina smiled a little more, her heart feeling much less weighed down, and she shook her head. "Uh uh. You're in my apartment, so I get to do you first."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow and said, "Oh? I wasn't aware that that was the rule." Lina grinned at that and nodded, taking the bottle out of his hand. She quickly unplugged the bathtub, and began lathering up her soap on Kakashi. As she worked, Lina smiled softly. She squeaked as she saw Kakashi flick her with some soap, and she promptly placed a finger full of soap bubbles on his nose, giggling.

"You know what I just realized?" Lina asked, still giggling.

"What?" Kakashi grinned, loving how he could change her mood so quickly. It was a good thing, but he wondered if she was just storing her emotions in a box for later.

"You're going to smell like me now." Lina said cheekily, her smile becoming wry. Kakashi sniffed the air and smirked. "I'm going to smell like jasmine? Not very masculine, but I guess I can live with that." He chuckled as Lina nudged his shoulder lightly.

"Hey! I had to put up with Kiba and Akamaru asking why I smelled different when I had training that one day last week, so you can deal with a little femininity. Besides, since you're the resident pervert, all _you_ have to say is that you hooked up with some girl." Lina grumbled, remembering how she'd had to lie to her teammates.

Kakashi looked at her, interested. "Oh? What did you tell them?" Lina sighed and said, "I told them I was helping out an old lady and she hugged me. Oddly enough, I smelled masculine enough that they should've realized I was lying….not that I'm complaining, but still."

Kakashi snorted and said, "Yeah, they really should have. But why couldn't you say you hooked up with some guy?"

Lina raised an eyebrow. "I was with Hinata and the girls the whole time the night before, because we were at the club, remember? So, if I said that, she'd know I was lying."

She watched Kakashi nod in understanding and she dropped her gaze down to continue lathering him up. With his front done, Lina smirked down as she took hold of his length, slowly soaping it up. She grinned as she heard him breath in sharply, and Lina looked up to see Kakashi's charcoal eye flare up with heat. Looking down again, Lina ran a finger along his slit, reveling in the sounds he was making. As she pumped him faster, Lina leaned up and kissed him, her tongue moving in his mouth as her thumb did on his tip. Kakashi quickly broke away from her, panting, as he began to feel a spring inside of him begin to coil. Wanting to make Lina feel good too, he reached down between her legs, running his fingers along her entrance, only to have them snatched away by her.

"Uh uh. No touching, let me make you feel good Kakashi. God knows you deserve it, keeping me sane through the mission, and then bringing me back to reality just now." Lina said softly, her eyes trained on Kakashi's face. He growled lowly and dropped his head into her shoulder, slumping over as he began to breath even more harshly than before. Lina listened in rapture as she felt him begin to shudder, and she softly licked his ear, sucking on the shell as she palmed his tip.

"Come on Kakashi, let it out." Lina whispered into Kakashi's ear, wincing slightly as she felt him dig his fingers into her sides. With four days of pure foreplay and sexual energy between them (since they couldn't do anything while on a mission), Lina knew he was just about bursting with need. She, on the other hand, didn't quite have the same urge, since being in battle was still taking its toll on her body. With a groan muffled into her shoulder, Kakashi released himself into her hands. Lina smiled and kissed his cheek softly, continuing to pump him up and down, long ribbons of fluid shooting between them. She felt him relax his hands around her sides and slump into her, still breathing hard. Letting go of him, Lina leaned her forehead against his shoulder, supporting him as she placed her hands on either side of his hips on the bathtub floor. She felt him slowly lift his head up, and in a moment his hands had come up to capture her face and bring it to his in a deep yet slow kiss.

Moaning softly, Lina pushed herself against Kakashi, her hands still on the bathtub floor. She felt Kakashi's hands move around to hold her against him. Stopping for air, Lina shivered slightly, feeling the cold air as the heat in the bathroom was now long gone, and she'd just separated from her one source of heat. Kakashi felt her shake and misunderstood, thinking she was still receiving the after-effects of the trauma.

Pulling her back to him, he said softly, "Lina, it's okay, you're safe."

Lina relaxed into him and smiled, softly saying, "I know. I'm just cold."

Kakashi pulled back and looked down at her, now noticing that her chest and arms were covered in goosebumps. "Oh."

Lina grinned up at him and softly kissed his lips, murmuring, "But thank you for being so understanding."

She felt Kakashi nod against her and she pulled away slowly, reaching to turn on the shower function. Immediately a spray of ice cold water fell on the two of them, making them gasp and shiver before the water began to heat up. Standing up, Lina pulled Kakashi further under the spray of the water, holding out her hands under the water to rinse away the residue of their little play before she began running her hands along the planes of his chest, gently wiping away the soap she'd lathered on him previously. As she rinsed away the soap, Lina felt Kakashi's hands come up to cup her face. Lifting her chin up, Lina found herself being kissed by Kakashi under the water.

Sliding her hands up his chest, Lina clung to his shoulders tightly. Pulling away, Lina quietly asked, "My room?" She watched Kakashi nod, his gaze dark yet blinding, before he kissed her once more. They quickly made sure they were all rinsed off, and hopped out of the shower, throwing on their clothes, not bothering to dry their hair too much. Lina quickly performed the barrier jutsu on herself and poked her head out of the bathroom, checking to see if the coast was clear. Just as she was about to walk out, she felt Kakashi tickle her sides, making her yelp and jump slightly before she turned back to him and glared, fighting a smile as she watched him chuckle. Looking back, she saw that Kurenai was nowhere to be seen. Walking out, she dragged Kakashi's arm out behind her, and they walked briskly into her room, closing the door quickly and quietly.

Turning to Kakashi, Lina said, "Sound-proofing jutsu." Kakashi shook his head. "No need, I never removed the jutsu last time, so it's still in effect."

Lina looked at him, surprised. "Really? Wow, that's handy."

Kakashi nodded, slowly advancing towards her. Lina smiled and walked towards him. As they reached each other, Lina put her hands on Kakashi's chest, feeling his hard muscles under his shirt. She felt Kakashi curve his arms around her, and she pulled him down for a sweet kiss.

"So, how am I doing?" Lina asked softly. Kakashi opened his eye and looked at her. "What?" She smiled and sweetly kissed him again. "How am I doing? You need to write a mental assessment, right?" She felt him pull back, and she let his shirt go.

"You knew?"

Lina nodded and smiled cheekily. "Of course I knew. I'm about to be a jounin, don't you think I'd figure this stuff out?" Kakashi studied her for a moment and asked, "Kurenai said something, didn't she?"

Lina raised an eyebrow and placed her hands on her hips. "Seriously? Wow, such little faith." Kakashi looked at her blankly and asked, "Well, did she?"

Lina rolled her eyes and said, "No. Well, not exactly. I suspected there would be more, so I asked if there was something you were hiding from me, and she said yes, and from there I guessed it. Jeez…" She turned and sat down on the bed, leaning on her palms which were resting behind her on the bed. She was annoyed that he was second-guessing her, so she didn't bother looking at him when she felt the bed dip down as Kakashi sat down beside her. Kakashi ran a finger down her face, leaning in softly to kiss the side of her jaw apologetically. He felt her shiver under his lips and turn towards him slightly. Lina turned her face to Kakashi, eyes closed as she felt Kakashi's hot lips on her side of her jaw, unable to resist. As they kissed towards each other's mouth, Lina brought her legs up to kneel on the bed, pulling Kakashi so that he was following her up towards the head of the bed.

They soon reached the top of the bed with only a few stumbles, each followed by giggles and soft laughs by the pair. As Lina leaned on the headboard of her bed, she quirked a smile and said, "So I'm guessing that you think that you can kiss it all away?" She gasped as she felt Kakashi suck on her neck softly.

"Is it working?" He asked, his deepened voice sending shockwaves through Lina's body. Lina arched her back, her pulse jumping, and she ran her hands up his shirt-covered chest and over his back. Pulling on his shirt, Lina quickly ripped it off of him, pushing him aside so that he was now leaning on the headboard, with her hovering over him. She felt his hands reach under her dress, smoothing over her thighs and then making their way up her sides. Lina put her arms up, letting Kakashi slip the dress off of her, her breasts springing free since she hadn't bothered to put her bra back on, only her panties remaining on her. As he pulled it off the last few inches of her arms, Kakashi bent his head down to kiss her chest softly, licking the valley between her breasts, making her arch further into him.

Just then, they heard a knock on the door. "Lina? Are you alright? Is Kakashi gone?" Pulling away, Lina quickly grabbed a shirt, not caring that it was Kakashi's, and threw it on before walking quickly to the door, ignoring Kakashi's muttered curses. Opening it slightly, Lina peeked out.

"Hey Kurenai, I'm fine, thanks." She shut the door quickly, cringing as she heard a snicker come from outside. As she turned back, she felt an arm come around her waist. Looking up, she saw Kakashi grinning down at her, one of his arms leaning above her head as he towered over her.

"So, I take it we have permission to continue?" Kakashi smirked. Lina smiled and poked his side lightly before she grabbed his undershirt and pulled him down. As their lips collided, Kakashi reached down to pick her up, feeling her legs instinctively wrap around him, and he leaned into the door, kissing her heavily. Breaking away, Lina said breathlessly, "So, are you going to continue making it up to me how little faith you have in me?" She wasn't done griping just yet, even if she _was_ beginning to heat up.

Kakashi looked into her eyes, his own stare only adding to her flush, and carried her to the bed, plopping her face up on it before he climbed over her, his hands at once moving to touch her everywhere. Lina jolted upwards as she felt his hands move around her, and she quickly removed his undershirt. Reaching down, Kakashi's fingers dove under the shirt Lina now wore, his fingers outlining her entrance through her panties. Lina gasped and jerked upwards as she felt Kakashi's fingers begin to work, heating her up. Pulling Kakashi into a rough kiss, Lina moaned and squirmed under his fingers, jerking and shuddering more than once as Kakashi applied varying amounts of pressure until he finally slid a finger into her, still through her panties, allowing the fabric to rub against her.

Kakashi broke the kiss as he slipped a finger into her through her now soaked panties, amazed at how sensitive she suddenly was. As he dipped another finger into her, still using the fabric of her lingerie as a barrier, and only rubbing into her shallowly, Kakashi watched Lina's face flush up even darker, her eyes wide as she felt his fingers scissor inside of her. She pulled him down again, wanting every inch of her covered with his skin, and kissed him crazily. Feeling her shudder under him, Kakashi rubbed his fingers even harder against her, and with a sudden, choked cry, Lina arched herself up high above the bed and peaked, before falling back down again, shivering from the aftershocks. Kakashi stared down at the shivering girl under him, flushed and panting.

Carefully pulling his fingers out of her, Kakashi said, "Maa, if I'd known a mission would get you this sensitive, I would've taken you back when we had that mission in Water Country." Lina sluggishly raised her arm and tried to slap Kakashi's arm, only able to feebly hit him as she slowly regained her energy. "No talking. I need more, Kakashi." Getting up slowly, Lina pulled Kakashi down onto the bed and climbed on top of him, the heat of her body rolling off of her in waves. Kissing him deeply, Lina pressed her breasts against his bare chest, smiling as she felt him grow and dig into her leg through his pants. Dropping kisses down his chin and neck, Lina accidentally grazed a nipple with a wandering finger, only to come back to it when she felt him jerk upwards and groan. Looking up at him, Lina traced his nipple once more, a smile forming as she watched him gasp again, eyes flying open. Leaning up, Lina , curbing her own need, softly said, "It looks like I'm not the only one who's extra sensitive today. You know, in Tactics, Mayuri-chan comes with only her nipples. Now, I know that's not possible with men, but how far do you think it'll take you? To the brink?" She teased both of his nipples, rolling them between her fingers and she dropped kisses down his neck.

Kakashi groaned loudly, his hands travelling over the curves of Lina's body, just barely noticing that she still had his shirt and her panties on. Lina dropped her head down to his chest, pecking her way down until she reached her hands. Letting go, she began sucking on a nipple, toying with it with her tongue as her free hand moved down to cup him outside of his pants. She bit down on the now hardened nub, feeling Kakashi's gasp in his chest, and she quickly switched sides, making the other one harden just as much. As Kakashi thrashed lightly on the bed, he felt Lina's hands rub him harder as she moved down, away from his nipples (thank God!) down to his abdomen. He immediately tightened his abdominal muscles as he felt her dip her tongue into his belly button, feeling the sensation straight down into his groin region, and he quickly turned them over, pulling her hands away from him and up above her head.

Staring down at her, Kakashi growled lowly, "No more playing. You say you need more? You have no idea how much I want to rip that shirt off of you." Lina stared up at him, his hair in disarray (and by the looks of it still slightly damp), and she shivered under his gaze. As she watched him for a moment, the mid-morning sun rays entering the room through the just-barely closed curtains, Lina felt her breath leave her. She wanted to pull him down into a deep kiss, but she couldn't, considering he was still holding her hands above her head. Looking up at Kakashi, she said breathlessly, "Take me, Kakashi."

Kakashi let out a low growl and bent down to kiss her roughly, his free hand coming down to dive under the hem of his/her shirt, pushing it up with his arm as he ran his hand up her body to cup her breast. Pulling the shirt up just enough to unveil her chest, Kakashi let go of Lina's hands, moving his newly free hand down to rip off her panties unceremoniously. Lina brought her hands to Kakashi's face, kissing and sucking his lower lip hungrily as she felt him remove the last of her lingerie. Her hands travelling down, she tugged on the waistband of his pants, making protesting noises through the kiss. Kakashi quickly pulled down his pants, Lina's hands plunging in to take hold of his boxers. Both of them stilled for a moment, watching her hands slowly peel away the last of his layers until he finally came free.

Drawing in a sharp breath, Lina reached up with one hand to bring Kakashi down into a kiss, the other hands slowly wrapping its fingers around him, moving up and down slowly. Kakashi exhaled sharply into the kiss, his arms coming up to take his shirt off of Lina. Finally popping the shirt off her head and arms, Kakashi reached down to open her legs for him, pulling away from the kiss to softly kiss her from her ankle up to her knee, his hand slowly moving up her inner thighs. Lina gasped and shivered as she felt his hands move up her thighs, and she stretched her arms up towards Kakashi in a silent plea to_ hurry up_. Kakashi stared down at her intently, positioned at her entrance, before he pushed into her slowly, agonizingly slowly. Lina whimpered, wanting him to hurry up, but he seemed almost determined to defy her. After a torturously long time, Kakashi fully buried himself in her, bending down to kiss her deeply yet slowly to signal the end.

Lina hung onto him, her fingers gripping his back tightly, her body shuddering at the feeling of Kakashi entering her slowly, and then the fullness of him fully in her. As she shook under him, Lina heard Kakashi groan and she whispered in a strained voice, "Move, Kakashi." Immediately, Kakashi pulled out almost fully, and pushed deeply back into her, both of them moaning at the friction. Lina pulled Kakashi into a hurried kiss, both of them sharing breaths as they panted into each other. She began to push down to meet his pushes, and soon they were establishing a fast, rough pace. Kakashi curled his arms around her, biting into her shoulder as the friction grew between them. Lina cried out, holding him tighter, clawing at his back with her fingertips. Wanting more, she summoned as much strength as she could, and pushed Kakashi over, onto the bed, her arms coming up to pin around his head, her fingers threading in his hair as she leaned down and kissed him harshly. Pushing down so that he was deeper into her, Lina groaned loudly and heedlessly breathed out, "Ahh, yes Kakashi, yes!"

Kakashi fought to keep looking at her, her moans spurring him closer towards a climax, his eyes screaming to close, and he was about to respond when his incredible hearing picked up a door being opened.

XXX

"Oh, Tenten-chan, Lee-kun, Neji-kun, what are you doing here?"

"Hello, Kurenai-sensei. Is nee-chan back from her mission"

"She is, but-"

"Wonderful! We can ask her if she would do us the honor of spending some time with us!"

"Thanks, Kurenai-sensei. I know where her room is."

'Oh, no, umm, you don't want to go in there right now. She's sort of busy."

"Oh, I'm sure nee-chan won't mind."

"Tenten, I don't think we should bother her. I feel Kakashi's chakra in there, maybe they're in a meeting."

Oh Neji, I'm sure it's fine."

*Knock Knock*

*Door opens*

"Nee-chan, we're-OH MY GOD!"

"Oh, what exuberant expression of youth! Such-"

"-LEE STOP LOOKING AT MY NEE-CHAN!"

"Come on, out, both of you!"

Lina's brain finally began to function, and she recognized the figures at the door as Tenten, Lee, and Neji. Where Kurenai was, she had no idea. She was just regaining herself when she caught Neji telling Tenten and Lee, both of whom were bright red, to get out of the room. She watched with morbid fascination as he shot her and Kakashi a disapproving look before he shut the door, leaving them in stunned silence for her, and amused silence for him.

"Oh my God." Lina groaned, shocked and horrified at herself that she was still trembling with want. Kakashi stared down at her for a moment before tentatively pushing into her once, smirking when he saw her arch her back and clutch at him again.

"Want me to do that again?"

Lina just barely heard him, but nodded, her strained voice squeaking out, "Do you mind? I don't know if I can stop." Kakashi chuckled darkly and pulled out before pushing back in again, whispering harshly, "Why the hell would I mind? I was just asking for your sake. I don't think I can stop either." Lina let out a heady moan in response, and they quickly resumed their carnal activities, forgetting about the 3 red-faced teens and 1 pregnant (and very gleeful) adult waiting for them outside.

XXX

"Oh, my God, I can't believe Tenten saw us. Her parents are going to be so mad at me." Lina moaned, pulling away from Kakashi after she regained her energy, looking for clothes.

"Her parents? She's probably not going to tell her parents about this." Kakashi said quizzically, smirking as he watched her try to hide herself from him while putting on clothes. He didn't really care that there were some teens outside of this door, so he reached out and dragged a lone finger down her spine, reaching the bottom and cupping her butt cheek firmly, watching her squeak and rear backwards. She glared at him and tried to swat his hand away, only to have him grab her hand and pull her back to the bed, towards him. Lina smiled unwantedly and crawled back to bed, wanting to hold him for just a little longer. Hell, the teens could wait.

She buried her face in his still damp chest and said, "When I was 17, she walked in on me kissing a boy, and she told both her and my parents." She felt Kakashi's laugh rumble in his chest, and she poked his stomach chidingly.

"Pfft! Seriously? She was, what? 4?"

Lina nodded, her face burning as she remembered the embarrassment. "Something like that, and my parents grounded me for a month for traumatizing her." She made a protesting sound as she felt Kakashi laugh again, but settled down as she felt his arms rub her back soothingly. "Well, lucky for you, your parents don't need to know about this. I'm not going to tell them, are you?" He felt Lina shake her head into his chest, and continued. "And I'm pretty sure we can persuade Tenten not to say anything either."

Slowly, Lina nodded, her hands trailing up and down his torso. "I suppose…"

Kakashi shifted his body and said, "Come on, time to go out and face the music." Lina hugged him tighter, kissing his chest softly, and murmured, "Oh God, can we not? Can't we just stay in here forever?" He chuckled and reached down to bring her face up to meet his in a sweet kiss. "We need to see them sometime."

Lina looked up at him and shook her head, pouting. "No, I don't wanna." She whined, giving her best puppy-dog eyes. Kakashi simply looked down at her soberly and said, "That won't work on me." Lina's gaze darkened and she pouted once more.

Drawing her hands towards her, Lina gently stroked his chest softly, kissing it for added effect. "Kakashi-kun, please?" Kakashi didn't bother hiding his smile as he heard her use the name, but he still shook his head and took her hands away. "Come on Lina, it won't be that bad." Lina groaned and gently hit her forehead against his chest a couple of times, whimpering. Finally, she sighed and nodded, saying, "Fine." They separated, picking up their clothes and dressing quickly. Completely dressed, Kakashi reached out to Lina and drew her to him, caressing her jaw as he bent down and kissed her before saying, "So, are you going to tell me why you're so sensitive all of the sudden? Is it really because of the mission?"

Lina shook her head, blushing slightly. "No, it's not. But, well, I don't really want to say." Kakashi lifted an eyebrow and said, "Oh? Now I _have_ to know."

Lina groaned softly and shook her head vehemently. "No! It's weird, and embarrassing." Kakashi grinned and said, "I'm counting on it. Now tell me." Lina groaned and shook her head again. "No, come on, we need to go talk to Tenten, Lee, and Neji. The longer she has to stew with the information, the worse it's going to be when we finally tell her."

Kakashi grunted and said, "You just don't want to tell me why you came with just my fingers." Lina punched him lightly and said, "That too." as she got up and walked to the door.

"I'll get it out of you eventually." Kakashi followed her to the door.

"Not if I can help it." Lina shot back before pausing that the door. "Hey, should my hair be up or down?" She looked back at Kakashi, grimacing when she saw him give her a 'are you mentally disturbed?' look. "If I leave it down, it'll say that I'm comfortable enough with you that I can let my hair down around you. If I put it up, I won't have the 'just fucked' look."

"Keep it down, I like the 'just fucked' look on you." Kakashi smirked, pulling up his mask. Lina rolled her eyes and shoved him lightly. "You just like knowing that you made me look like this, pervert." She squealed as she felt Kakashi spin her so that her back was facing him and shove her against the wall, his hands moving under her clothes.

"If you want, I can show you just how perverted I can get." He hissed into her ear, and Lina shuddered in response, her heartbeat quickening once more. "K-Kakashi, don't. Unless you're planning on continuing, don't touch me. I'm still highly wound up." She felt Kakashi shift and she relaxed, thinking his was loosening his hold on her, only to gasp when she felt him continue torturing her, his hands cool against her still heated skin. Just as she was finally rising again, Lina felt Kakashi pull away. Looking over her shoulder, Lina's eyes narrowed as she saw Kakashi looking down at her, amused.

"Well, I guess it's time we talked to that group of kids waiting outside." Kakashi purposefully strode to the door, opening it, completely ignoring Lina's glares. He made it out two steps, waving a small hello to the group before he felt himself being tugged backwards.

"Oh no you don't! Hang on guys, we're not done um...talking. Kakashi, you get back in here!" Lina growled, her eyes flashing as she pulled Kakashi back into the room, ignoring the flushed looks on Tenten and Neji's faces. As she slammed the door, she heard Lee call out, "Take you're time! There's no-OW! Neji-kun!"

Turning back to Kakashi, Lina roughly pushed him onto the bed, her face growing flushed as she watched his expressions go from amused to surprised back to amused. "Kakashi. You're going to regret doing that."

"Oh really?" Kakashi sneered, goading her for his own enjoyment.

Lina's eyes flashed again and she stalked towards him. "Oh, you think I'm going to let you get away with turning me on and then leaving me?"

"What are you going to do?" Kakashi asked, his blood pumping faster as he watched Lina stalk him like a predator. He could feel the energy roll off of her, exciting him to no end. Lina smirked down at him and crawled onto the bed on top of him, one of her hands diving into his shirt. Pushing her body onto Kakashi's, Lina kissed him strongly, teasing a nipple, making him grunt and arch his back towards her. Grinning, Lina cupped him firmly, lifting her head to watch his expressions change, and she was not disappointed. Murmuring lowly, Lina brought her hand down to his backside, pushing him into her other hand, and said, "Here's your payback." She felt him tensing up, and just as he had done to her, she immediately let him go.

Knowing he would be up and after her in a flash, she scrambled to the door, letting it fly open, and ran to sit on the couch next to the teens who were still sitting frozen there, waiting for them to come out. Smiling quickly at the group, Lina looked back at her bedroom door, waiting for it to open. The door opened quietly, and immediately, a chill fell onto the room as everyone felt Kakashi's cold aura come out, his face hard and intense as he stared at her.

_'Oh crap.'_ Lina looked back at him innocently, raising her hands up in defense, a tentative smile on her face. "Maa, maa, Kakashi, you wouldn't hurt a sweet little girl like me, ne?"

His gaze deathly rigid, focused only on Lina, Kakashi paced towards her slowly. "Sweet? I don't think so." Lina's eyes grew wide and she quickly stood up, beginning to back away. "Kakashi, you wouldn't dare."

Kakashi's eyes glinted with mischief and he used his superhuman speed to race to her, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her to him tightly. "You shouldn't have said that."

Lina shrieked and squirmed in his arms, both of them completely forgetting about the 4 extras watching them.

Kurenai watched them in fascination, having not seen Kakashi act this way in several years, not since Hanare, and even then, he hadn't been _this_ open. Neji's eyebrows rose in surprise, not quite able to link the jounin he knew as Hatake Kakashi with the man he was watching in front of him. Of course, Lee was enthralled with their antics, and was proclaiming, "Oh! Such wonderful display of youth! Such passion!" In the meantime, Tenten was blushing madly, staring at Lina squirming in Kakashi's arms, wondering how on earth all of this happened, and why she had the misfortune of having to witness it all.

Lina squirmed uselessly in Kakashi's arms, pushing against his chest as she tried to free herself. "Ahh, Kakashi, let go!"

"No. You need to be punished." Kakashi picked her up, swinging her over his shoulder, with the intent of carrying her back to the bedroom to thoroughly 'punish' her.

She yelped again, and struggled against him. "Punished?! But you started it! If anyone should be punished, it should be you!"

"Oh? Well, if you can get yourself out of this, then I'll call it even." Kakashi held her tight, still ignoring the 4 figures in front of him, and walked towards the bedroom. Lina pounded on his back, her legs flailing about, before she remembered that he'd taught her how to body flicker. Concentrating her chakra, but keeping it limited to her own body, which she'd never done before today, Lina fled through the seals and 'poof'ed out of Kakashi's grasp, appearing next to Kurenai, on the couch.

"Ha! I did it! We're even now!" Lina cried out in triumph, laughing giddily. She watched Kakashi slowly turn towards her, his visible eye narrowed, but he strode towards her and calmly plopped down beside her, arms crossed over his chest. Lina raised and eyebrow and looked at him, wondering if he was going to do anything, but he just closed sat still, not saying a word. After a moment, Lina hesitantly nudged Kakashi's side. "Mad at me?"

Looking down at her, Kakashi shook his head, still silent.

"Umm…" Lee said hesitantly, finally noticing the small tension in the air.

Lina turned to him and smiled brightly. "Maa, I forgot about you guys! Right, erm...sorry you had to see us just now. Feel free to erase that image from your memories." She winked at the three teens. She'd talk to Kakashi later. For now, she had to make the kids understand that she wasn't just bedding one of their senseis.

"Nee-chan, you...and Kakashi-sensei…how?" Tenten slowly formed her sentence, unsure of how to ask what she was thinking. She watched Lina blush lightly and say, "Um, how do these things normally happen? Surely you know, Tenten, considering you and Neji-kun are oh-so-close." Tenten blushed softly, not daring to look at Neji, and stammered out, "Nee-chan! We're talking about you, not me!"

Lina grinned and said, "Maybe we should be talking about you instead, ne?" Her eyes flickered over to Neji, who was staring daggers into the floor, obviously trying to maintain his distinctive Hyuuga air. Smiling, she turned back to Tenten and said, "Regardless of how it happened, I'd prefer it if you didn't tell anyone." She felt Kakashi shift beside her, but she ignored him and continued. "I'm not saying that we're not going to tell people, it's just that, I'd rather _we_ be the ones to tell people. Okay?" She watched Tenten nod in silence, and then looked at Neji, who did so as well. Lastly, she looked at Lee, who was the most exuberant of them all. "Lee?"

"But of course, Lina-san! I shall guard this secret with my life!" Lee pumped his fist in the air, the other first clutched against his heart, and Lina smiled. Finally, she turned to Kakashi, and saw that he was looking down at her curiously. Biting her lip, Lina looked into his open eye, trying to gauge his emotion. After a second, she saw his gaze soften, and she smiled softly, letting out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

Kakashi watched Lina talk with Tenten, hiding his smile as he heard her joke about her and Neji's 'thing', and turned when he heard her say she didn't want Tenten to say anything. _'You _still_ want to keep it a secret?'_ But then he heard her say her next words, and he relaxed. That made sense. Holding off to tell everyone themselves would make it much less complicated, and they would be able to answer any questions that arose (which, given who they were, was obviously going to happen. How often did the pervert of Konoha and the eldest Sasaki sibling enter into the same sentence?) Kakashi saw Lina turn to him, a nervous look on her expression, and he could hear her holding her breath. Giving her a reassuring look, Kakashi felt her relax, and he smiled under his mask.

"Kakashi-sensei." He turned his head to look at Tenten, who was fixing him with a determined stare.

"Yes, Tenten-chan?" He felt Lina stiffen slightly, and realized his mistake. Chan? No, 'chan' was saved for Lina now, and only when he wanted something from her. Casually, he stretched his arm around her shoulders and brought her closer to him, squeezing gently as he silently apologized. Concentrating back on Tenten, he heard her say, "What are your intentions with my nee-chan?" Kakashi froze, unsure of what he heard, and carefully asked, "What?" He felt Lina freeze again, and then felt her shake and giggle beside him, her hands coming up to cover her mouth.

"What are your intentions with my nee-chan? I've heard about your reputation from Sakura, not to mention everyone in Konoha knows how perverted you are. Are you just trying to sleep with someone new ? Because my nee-chan isn't someone you can just sleep with and dump. She's a strong, powerful kunoichi, and I'll have you know, I won't stand for you hurting her." Tenten's gaze turned into a glare as she became sucked into her mini-speech. She was now leaning forwards, almost getting off her seat on the couch.

Kakashi gave her an eye-crinkled smile and said, "Maa, when did subordinates become so disrespectful? I didn't realize I had to answer questions coming from my_ little kohai_." His tone was as sharp as a blade, and Lina immediately jumped in before Tenten said any more. "Maa, maa. Tenten-chan, thank you for worrying about me, but I'm fine, really." She squeezed Kakashi's lower thigh reassuringly, rubbing up and down to soothe him slightly, a movement which was not lost on anyone.

"But nee-chan, do you know about the rumors about him? The types of women he's been with? I don't understand-"

"Tenten, regardless of the types of women I've been with in the past, I'm with Lina now." Kakashi cut in, speaking seriously. He'd had this discussion just days ago with Lina, and now with Tenten? He wasn't about to go in nearly as much detail with her as he had with Lina, but he still felt the need to defend himself. He felt Lina shift beside him, and smiled when he heard her next words.

"And besides, it's not like I've never been with a man before. Believe me, Tenten, Kakashi is far from my first. And yes, I know the rumors, and there is nothing to worry about. You don't think I'd let him push me around, do you?" Lina teased lightly, her face relaxed. She was nowhere near as confident as she was currently portraying, but in this moment, with Kakashi's arm around her, she really felt like maybe she could be, one day.

"He's not?" Tenten said, her voice small as she stared at her nee-chan. She watched her shake her head and laugh.

"No, he is definitely not. Isn't that right, Kakashi?" Lina nudged him, giggling. Kakashi chuckled and nodded. "I can definitely vouch for that. There are some things you have to learn about a person's body, and _Lina-chan_ here, has learned many things." He laughed through his nose as Lina lightly smacked his chest, giggling. "Kakashi! Stop that, it's not like you haven't learned anything in _your_ past adventures."

"O-Okay, enough! I don't know how much more I can stand of this. Nee-chan, I still think this is a bad idea, but that's just because I know Kakashi-sensei's reputation so well. That being said, it's of course your choice, and I'll support you no matter what. But, well, are you two a couple now? You didn't really clear that up." Lina looked back at Tenten and then up at Kakashi, willing him to answer that.

Kakashi looked down at her for a moment and then up at Tenten. "She's my girlfriend." He felt Lina relax into his side, and he softly brushed his fingers along her arm.

"Oh, such passion! Such coolness! How hip of Kakashi-sensei to have a girlfriend! As expected of my sensei's rival, and my rival's sensei!"

Lina snorted and laughed as Lee stood up from his seated position. "Lee-kun, I take it you approve?"

"But of course! Why shouldn't I approve of such a beautiful couple?! My only regret is that you, oh beautiful flower of Konoha, are not with my sensei!" Lee said loudly, ignoring the choked sounds and stares coming from the group. Lina choked on air as she listened to Lee, suddenly overcome with the image of her and Gai getting together. Oh my. Looking up at Kakashi, she said softly, "You have no idea how grateful I am that you're not Gai."

Kakashi laughed softly through hi nose and said, "Yeah, you and me both." They chuckled together for a moment.

"Kakashi-sensei," Tenten leaned forwards again, her gaze fixated on the jounin. "Take care of my nee-chan. She's family."

Kakashi looked back at the bun-haired chuunin and nodded, also becoming serious. Lina looked between the two of them and burst into a fit of giggles. "Gosh, between the two of you, I feel like I'm being married off or something!" Sighing, she leaned back into the couch and said, "Maa, I guess we've sorted everything out now. Just remember not to say anything to anyone, okay? Not a word."

"How long are you going to keep this a secret?" Neji asked, finally speaking up. Lina looked up at Kakashi and said, "I was thinking that since these guys already know anyway, there's no reason to keep it a secret anymore. How about we tell them tonight at the club?" Kakashi looked down at her and nodded, giving her a small outline of a smile through his mask. "Sounds good." Lina grinned and nodded.

"But nee-chan, how long has this been going on?"

"Let's save the questions for when we're with the group, ne? It'll be easier to answer them all at once than to repeat them." Lina watched Tenten nod.

"Ah! That's actually why we um...interrupted you. We were wondering if you'd come to the club tonight. But, I guess since you're going to tell everyone, that's kind of obvious now."

Kakashi nodded and said, "Was there anything else-" The front door slammed open and a black haired, fishnet wearing woman walked in. "I'm back! Kurenai, I'm exhausted-eh? You've got company?"

Lina looked at the loud woman standing at the entrance, taking off her shoes, and slowly remembered that there was another person who was supposed to live here instead of her. Getting up, she said, "Ah, you must be Mitarashi Anko-san. I'm Sasaki Lina, the person who's using your room temporarily. Welcome back. I'll go move out my stuff."

"Maa, there's no need to rush! Let me look at you. My, you're a tiny little thing, huh?" Anko swung a muscled arm out and caught Lina by the upper arm, turning her back around so she could look her over. Lina couldn't help but smile at the woman's rambunctiousness. Despite her dislike of people talking about her height, she liked how straight-forward Anko was, even if it was a little off-putting at first. Looking up at the woman, Lina said, "I've heard quite a lot about you, Mitarashi-san."

"Oh ho, good things, I hope! Ahh Kakashi, what are you doing here? You never stop by. And you three...um...how do I know you guys again?"

"Anko." Kakashi nodded at her, smiling slightly under his mask at her hold on Lina's arm.

"Anko-san, we were in the chuunin exams a few years back, with Naruto-kun, Sakura-san, and the rest." Lee explained, and Anko nodded in acknowledgement. Lina gently freed herself and said, "I'm going to go and pack up my stuff. Kakashi, could you come with me to the Hokage office? I need to put in for a new apartment, since I obviously can't stay here."

"Maa, sorry about that. I don't mean to kick you out, ahaha." Anko said sheepishly, but Lina shook her head, smiling. "No, it's fine, Mitarashi-san! I always knew I'd have to move out when you came back, so it's fine. I actually ended up staying here much longer than I'd expected. It is going to be a little sad though, not seeing you anymore, Kurenai." Lina puckered her lips a little as she looked at the pregnant woman, who smiled sadly and nodded.

"Yeah, it's going to feel weird not having you around."

Lina sighed lightly and walked into her room. Kakashi watched her go, and got up, saying, "I need to debrief with her about the mission we were just on."

Anko smirked at him and said, "Oh? Is that all you're going to do, pervert?"

Kakashi looked back at her impassively and said, "What do you mean?"

Anko smirked wider. "She smells like you, and sex. I must say, she's not your usual type." She grinned at the sound of Tenten and Lee's gasps, her eyes flitting over to them, seeing the three teammates' faces burn red.

Kakashi walked up to her and said firmly, "No, she's not." before striding into the bedroom, closing the door.

"Hey, where are you going to sleep in the meantime?" Kakashi asked, watching Lina place her clothes into summoning scrolls.

Lina turned around to look at him, and smiled. "I was thinking I'd stay in a hotel for now, if there's no space in the shinobi apartments. Nothing expensive. Worst come to worst, I can always room with Tenten. She lives alone, since she moved out of her parents' house, and I'm pretty sure she won't mind." She watched Kakashi nod silently and she turned back to her scrolls, smiling. "There. Clothes, check. Wow, I really didn't unpack as much as I thought! What's next...oh, my pack! Kakashi, you don't need to stay with me while I pack."

Kakashi walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her from behind. "I don't mind. Do you need help?" He felt Lina put down her scrolls and turn around, wrapping her arms around him as she shook her head.

"No, I'm nearly done. By the way, are you mad that I body flicker'ed on you?" Lina asked timidly, wanting to clear the air before anything festered. It was Kakashi's turn to shake his head. "No, I'm not mad. But I was annoyed. After all...you cheated." He poked her lightly in her sides, making her squeak and wiggle in his arms.

"I did? You didn't say there was a no-jutsu rule." Lina giggled, burying her face even deeper in his chest. Kakashi laughed and turned to sit on the bed, pulling her onto his lap. Lina hung her arms around his neck as she pulled down his mask and kissed him deeply, humming slightly. Immediately, their previously curbed heat flared up, and hands began to wander unconsciously.

Kakashi broke away from the kiss, panting slightly into Lina's cheek, and said, "We probably shouldn't do this in this room, considering it's Anko's again."

Lina nuzzled into his neck, groaning, and said, "Damn, you're probably right." Kakashi nuzzled her as well and said softly, "How about we go to my place?" He smiled as he felt Lina giggle and nod.

"Sounds good." They separated, straightening up, and Lina finished packing up, which didn't take that long considering she didn't really unpack to begin with. Turning back to Kakashi, Lina said, "Thank you, Kakashi. For not offering to let me live with you. I don't think I'm quite ready to do that yet." She gave him a small smile, relaxing as he pecked her sweetly on the lips.

"Mm, and here I was, worried that you'd take it the wrong way. Yeah, I don't think we're quite there at the moment." He smiled back at her. Seeing her get up and begin stripping the bed, Kakashi asked, "What are you doing?"

Lina turned to him, quirking an eyebrow. "We just did it on the bed, and Anko's coming to sleep in it later. Don't you think we should clean up before she comes in? Oh, and you need to remove the sound proofing jutsu." Kakashi shook his head, snickering, and quickly removed the jutsu from the walls, turning back to watch Lina haul a load of sheets into the laundry basket next to the bed, and put on new ones on the bed. Finally done, Lina picked up her pack and swung it over her shoulders, carrying the laundry out of the bedroom.

"Mitarashi-san, I've put new sheets and stuff for you, and I'm going to clean the used ones now. You can move back in any time."

"Thanks, Lina-chan. Are you leaving now?" Lina raised an eyebrow at the tacked-on suffix, but smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I need to find Hokage-sama and see if I can get a new living situation. Tenten, if I can't, can I stay with you for a little bit?"

"Of course, nee-chan." Tenten looked at Kakashi, wondering why her nee-chan wasn't living with him. Lina waved at the group, giving Kurenai a hug as thanks for putting up with her for three months. Waving goodbye one last time, Lina and Kakashi walked out of the apartment.

"Hm. Well, I guess I should go see Hokage-sama now. I'll see you later?" Lina squeezed Kakashi's hand and turned away, only to find that Kakashi wasn't letting go of hers.

"Maa, I'm sure you can wait a little while. You know, Hokage-sama is always very busy, so...why don't you come over?" Kakashi asked cutely, and Lina smiled wide, biting her lip at the same time. Shaking her hand out of Kakashi's, she made the seals for the body flicker and disappeared after giving him a wink. Kakashi stared at the spot she'd been just a second ago and smirked, 'poof'ing away himself.

XXX

"Mmm, that was nice." Lina said, smiling slightly as she laid a hand on Kakashi's bare chest. They were back in his apartment, in his bed, satisfied after finally finishing what they'd each started in Lina's room.

"Nice?" Kakashi said doubtingly, tilting his chin down to look at her. Lina looked up at him and smiled uncertainly. "What?"

"You said it was nice."

"Yeah, so?"

"That's all? Sex with me is...nice?" Kakashi couldn't hide the pout in his voice, and Lina grinned into his chest.

Nodding, she teasingly said, "Yes. Sex with you is _nice_." She choked on an out-going giggle as she felt Kakashi poke her side, and she squeezed her arms even tighter around him.

"Hey! What do you mean, sex with me is 'nice'?." Kakashi frowned, his male pride significantly bruised. As the main pervert of Konoha (except for Jiraiya, but he was always travelling), he was used to women being speechless, or fawning over his bedroom skills. To have his first girlfriend in years say that sex was 'nice', after only a week of sleeping with him, 4 days of which he hadn't even touched her, was indescribably hurtful. Lina, noticing that he wasn't joking, sat herself up, pulling the covers to shield herself, and reached up to kiss him probingly, her hand travelling up his chest into his hair as the other leaned on the bed for leverage. Opening her eyes, Lina mumbled into Kakashi's lips, "The sex was nice. I'm not saying it was bad, I'm saying it was nice. Definitely a relief, considering how much we'd built each other up. Okay?"

Kakashi looked up at her, their lips just grazing each other, breaths mingling, and he shook his head. "No, it's not okay. I don't do 'nice'. Lina raised her eyebrow in amusement and smiled at his childishness, despite the topic. Pursing her lips, Lina kissed him softly on the cheek before she rolled onto her back, her body and hands moving completely off of Kakashi. Laying on her back, seemingly staring at the ceiling, Lina watched from the corner of her eye as Kakashi rolled to his side and watched her. Kakashi looked at her face, blank and peaceful as she looked up at the ceiling of the room, and he poked her arm lightly.

"Hm?" Lina made a questioning noise.

Kakashi half-shrugged and said, "Nothing." before rolling onto his back again.

Lina was disappointed, thinking he'd say something like, "Why'd you move away? I miss your body." She quickly shook those thoughts out of her head and rolled back to him, one arm coming up to rest on his chest while the other grabbed his hand, intertwining her fingers in his, and Lina softly kissed his tightly-muscled shoulder. She lifted her gaze as she felt Kakashi roll over, bringing their hands up to their chests as he faced her, his other hand coming to rest on her back, around her waist.

As she looked into his breathtakingly exquisite face, Lina let out a small sigh before she buried her face into his chest. Kakashi pulled her closer to him, surprised at her sigh, and said, "What is it?" He felt her shake her head and mumble, "Nothing. I was just wondering…" Lina trailed off, lost in thought. She jolted slightly as she felt Kakashi stir next to her and she smiled wryly.

"Sorry, got lost in thought for a second there. I was thinking..." her voice softened as she spoke. "Why is this so easy?"

Kakashi pulled away from her, not understanding. "This? What do you mean?" Lina bit her lip, frowning. "This. Us. Why is it so easy? Not that I'm complaining or anything, but...well, I don't understand. Nothing's ever this easy. At least, not for me."

Kakashi stared down at her. How could it be that he was thinking of the exact same thing, just moments ago? He too was surprised that they had fallen into each other's arms so easily (well, relatively easily, after months of going back and forth). Releasing her, he motioned for her to sit up, him doing the same. As they sat up, with her shielding her body with the covers, Kakashi motioned for her to straddle him, facing him. Smiling slightly, Lina sat on top of his thighs, the covers pinned under her arms as she rested her hands on his chest. Looking down at her, Kakashi raised his hand to gently pulled her chin up, kissing her softly.

"I don't know. But, it's not a bad thing."

Lina looked up at him, and smiled just as softly as he'd kissed her. Nodding, she said quietly, "No, it's not a bad thing." She leaned her forehead down onto his shoulder, kissing his collarbone softly as she nuzzled into him, smiling when she felt Kakashi's arms pull her closer. They sat in silence for a moment, both feeling grateful for the simplicity of the situation, despite their previous misgivings of starting a relationship after years of solitude. Finally, Lina glanced up at the bedside alarm clock and noticed that they'd wasted away nearly half the day, so she began to pull away, taking the covers with her. Grinning as she felt Kakashi tighten his grip around her, Lina looked back at him and kissed him softly, tugging on his bottom lip gently before she moved away, still covering herself.

"Where are you going?" Kakashi groaned, his hands loosening around her but still trailing down her body. He watched Lina pick up her clothes, covers trailing on the floor, her hair a mess.

Lina looked back at him and said, "I need to ask Hokage-sama if there's anywhere for me to live, remember? Oh, but I'm going to hop in the shower first. I don't think it's appropriate to go smelling the way I do, ne?"

"Want me to come?" Kakashi asked lazily. Lina grinned at him and said, "I thought you already did. Twice." She turned back and headed to the door, fighting the urge to look at his undoubtedly shocked face. She walked out of the bedroom and towards the bathroom, grinning widely as she heard him laugh. As she got in the shower, she wondered briefly if she should just rinse her body off without using soap, considering she'd end up smelling like Kakashi if she did, but grimaced at the feeling of being dirty despite showering. Quickly, she washed her hair and body, going in and out in a record time of 10 minutes. Redressing, Lina walked out of the bathroom to smell what seemed like Ichiraku's Ramen. Going into the kitchen, Lina found Kakashi spooning the noodles, fillings, and broth into two bowls. Looking up, he smiled and held up the Styrofoam container.

"Ramen?"

Lina nodded, sitting down. She let her eyes wander over his body, taking in his black tank top that stood out against his creamy skin, and his jounin bottoms, hanging low at his hips. "When did you get ramen?"

"Before I followed you back here, I went to Ichiraku's and ordered takeout, asking them to drop it off in a little while."

"Oh, so _that's_ why you were late! I thought you'd missed my meaning or something." Lina breathed in deeply, closing her eyes and smiling as she inhaled the scent of food. Waiting for Kakashi to sit down, Lina dug into her bowl, moaning in satisfaction as she ate ramen for the first time in over 3 days. As she ate, Lina felt something move along her foot. Pausing slightly, she looked up to see Kakashi watching her, a small smile on his face. Realizing his game, she rubbed her foot against (what she now knew was) his. Continuing eating, Lina smiled, letting her foot travel up and down the length of his calf, applying just enough pressure so that he could feel it through the cloth of his pants. Quirking an eyebrow in challenge, Lina shot him a 'now what are you going to do?' look. She watched Kakashi smirk back, and felt his other foot come to meet her still-planted-on-the-floor one, and began imitating her other foot's movements, upping the stakes by travelling between her legs up her thighs. As Lina was significantly smaller, she couldn't quite reach the end goal, so she had to content herself with just feeling his leg. Kakashi, however, could do what she couldn't.

Continuing eating, Kakashi slowly nudged his foot into her lap, finally reaching his goal. As he placed pressure on her entrance through her pants, he felt Lina squeeze her thighs tight and choke on her noodles slightly. Coughing, Lina glared up at Kakashi, who was still remaining impassive.

"Something wrong?" Kakashi asked, reaching out to her free hand so that she couldn't move it down to stop him. He watched Lina cough a little more, glaring at him, and then shake her head. Smiling, he continued to play, softly teasing her before he retreated, having finished his food. Releasing her hand, Kakashi got up and brought the bowl to the sink, feeling her trail after him. Lina followed him, thankful that he'd stopped before winding her up completely. As she set the bowl down, Lina slid a hand up his back onto his shoulder, turning him slightly to the side so she could slip in between him and the counter. Facing the sink, she turned on the water, beginning to wash the bowls, wondering if he would take the hint. Smiling, she felt Kakashi wrap his arms around her, his head resting on top of hers as she continued to clean. Finishing up, Lina leaned backwards into him, using her hands to bring his up to her lips.

Feeling Lina kiss his fingertips, Kakashi turned her around so that she was facing him and lifted her up and onto the counter next to the sink, smirking at the squeak she let out at being lifted. With the counter levelling their heights, Kakashi pulled her into a kiss, settling between her legs so that he could pull her whole body to his. Tangling his fingers in her still slightly damp hair, Kakashi kissed her deeply, groaning at the feeling of her hands clutching at his back. Finally letting go, Kakashi said softly, "You should probably go now." He smiled as he heard Lina whine and wiggle closer to him, shaking her head.

"Don't wanna." Lina whined into his shoulder.

"You don't want a place to live?" Kakashi teased, amused. He heard Lina groan and chomp down on his shoulder before she let go.

Pouting, Lina said, "You're mean. Right, but still mean."

She gently pushed Kakashi away, hopping off the counter, and made her way to the front door. Pulling on her shoes, Lina gathered her pack and supplies, which were laying next to her shoes, and turned around to see Kakashi standing behind her. Smiling, she said, "I'll see you at the club later, okay? My God, I can't believe we skipped a whole day's worth of training." She smacked her forehead with her palm, groaning. "I'm never going to make jounin if we keep doing this."

Kakashi chuckled, his arms crossed over his chest, and said, "We'll train tomorrow. You don't have team training, right?" Lina nodded and gave him a little wave before she 'poof'ed away. She didn't want to have to haul her things all the way to the Hokage's office. Watching her disappear, Kakashi walked back into his room. He had to write up his mission report evaluating the successfulness of the mission and Lina's mental state before, during, and after it.

XXX

"Come in." Tsunade's voice rang out from behind the door, and Lina opened the door, smiling briefly at the ANBU guarding it. Walking in, she smiled at Sakura and Shizune, grinning at Tonton, who was at the moment carrying a stack of papers on her back.

"What is it, Lina?" Tsunade asked behind a pile of papers on her desk, her glasses on her nose. Lina bowed to her and said, "Hokage-sama, I wanted to inform you that Mitarashi Anko-san has arrived from her mission, which I'm sure you're well aware of. Since she's back, I need a place to live, so I was wondering if there were any chuunin or even genin apartments available?" She didn't mind the cramped quarters of the genin apartments, she just needed a place to stay between missions. She watched Tsunade rifle through papers before she came to a particularly heavy-looking folder.

"Hm. There are no genin apartments left, since the Academy is about to graduate a class, and they've all been snapped up. There are a couple of chuunin dorms available. Hang on, you're supposed to take the jounin exams, right? Sakura, get me Lina's file." Lina watched Sakura flip through the file cabinet leaning against a wall and bring out a thin file.

"Hm...you're file is pretty thin for a 29 year old, but that makes sense considering you've been away for over a decade. Your recent missions have been successes, you're working well with Team Kurenai?" Tsunade asked, eyes still trained on the file in her hands. Lina nodded. "We've developed a system that works, thankfully." She didn't understand why Tsunade was asking about her teamwork, but she didn't question it. Tsunade nodded, still reading the file. Finally finished, she closed the manila file and steepled her hands, looking at Lina through her glasses.

"Are you aware that you were being evaluated on you latest mission by Kakashi?" Tsunade watched Lina stiffen and nod. She nodded back and sat back in her chair. "Okay. Well, I don't see any problems right now, but that could change, depending on what Kakashi writes in his report."

"Hokage-sama? I don't understand."

"You can stay in a jounin apartment. It'll be yours alone, since we don't have many jounin at the moment. I'm giving you the apartment on the assumption that you will pass the exams in 4 months, considering you've got skills well above a chuunin. If you don't pass, however, you will be moved back to the chuunin apartments."

Lina nodded, surprised that the Hokage was so lenient. She wondered what Kakashi's evaluation of her would have to entail. The mission had been pretty straight-forward, if a little messy towards the end when all of the henchmen had come rushing in. She hadn't left any witnesses, and she'd hidden herself well enough that the henchmen hadn't noticed her, so she was pretty sure she would be getting a good evaluation. As for her mental state, that could only be decided by Kakashi now.

"Do you know where the jounin apartments are?" Tsunade watched Lina nod. "Good. You'll be staying in the red building, apartment…317. Go down to the missions desk and ask Iruka or Kotetsu or Izumo to get you the key." Tsunade waved her off, already turning her gaze elsewhere. Lina bowed and exited the room, tugging her pack and other belongings along with her. If she remembered correctly, a certain silver-haired boyfriend of hers lived in that building. Not that it was too big of a coincidence, considering there were really only two jounin buildings, but still.

XXX

*Poof*

Lina appeared in front of the apartment building, a reddish brown colored building that stood at around 5 stories tall. Walking in, she slowly walked up the stairs, lugging her pack. Of course, she could always take the outer wall and slip in somehow, but she wanted to see what each level was like, sort of like exploring her new home. Finally, she reached the third floor, and she walked onto the floor. Immediately, she recognized the floor as the same one that she'd come in and out of when she stayed with Kakashi. Smiling slightly, Lina walked until she found her apartment number 317. Just as she was opening the door, Lina heard a door open and felt a familiar chakra. Smiling, she looked up to see Kakashi standing in the doorway of his apartment, which was at the end of the hall, not wearing his flak vest since he was at home.

"Hey. I take it you found a place to stay?" Kakashi had felt Lina's chakra signature enter the floor, and he'd opened the door to find her trying to open an apartment door. He watched her smile warmly at him and nod.

"I'm supposed to live here for the time being-"

"OI, KAKASHI! I thought I heard you! Up for some training?" Gai slammed open his door and pranced out of his apartment, #310. Looking at the direction where Kakashi was staring, Gai noticed Lina standing a few doors down. "Ah, Lina-chan! What are you doing here, lovely flower? Eh? You live here now?" He noticed the key in her hand and walked up to her, grabbing her in a rough hug and twirling her around in a circle saying, "Welcome! Ahh, such a wonderfully youthful feeling to have a new neighbor. I'll drop by with some cookies or something, we can have a house-warming party!"

Lina squealed as Gai swung her around, giggling and just barely clinging on. "Ah! Gai, let me go!" She pounded on his back with one hand, laughing, until he finally placed her back on the ground. Stumbling slightly, Lina grabbed hold of his arm to steady herself, her other hand coming up to clutch her forehead. "Ugh, I feel sick…" She looked up to see Gai laughing sheepishly. "Maa, sorry, sorry!"

She waved him off and said, "I'm going to go in now, either of you wanna come in?" She opened the door and left it open for them to enter, lugging her pack into her new home. Taking a quick scan around the place, she found that the layout was actually pretty similar to Kakashi's, but different from Kurenai's. Kurenai's apartment was larger, of course, considering it was for two people, but Lina's new home wasn't cramped at all. Like Kakashi's (and she assumed all jounin apartments), she walked into the entrance and entered the living room immediately, with an open kitchen further into the apartment, a bedroom to her right, and the bathroom at the end of the hall. As she looked around, she found it bare of all personal effects, which made sense, because it was either new, or the previous owner had moved/died on a mission, and thus the personal items would be cleared out before the new tenants arrived. Dropping her pack on the floor, Lina flopped onto the couch, sighing, and motioned the two jounin to come in.

Kakashi smirked as he watched Lina relax in her new home. This was certainly a nice turn of events. This made them staying over at each other's apartments a whole lot easier, and now that she lived alone, they wouldn't need to worry about anyone getting in the way. He couldn't wait to 'break the bedroom in'. Smiling at the thought, Kakashi followed Gai into the apartment, closing the door, and sat down on the couch. Looking over at Lina, he caught her watching him, and he shot her an eye-crinkled smile. Noticing nothing, Gai continued on his rave about how youthful it would be have a house-warming party, at least, until Lina decided to step in and stop him.

"Ne, Gai, I don't really feel like having a house-warming party. It's just an apartment, right? It's not like I'm living in a 'house' anyway. And besides, for all we know, I could completely fail the jounin exams and get sent to the chuunin apartments. Which would suck, by the way."

"No, no! Lina-chan, you _must_ have a house-warming party! We can have food, and music, and people! The teams, Kakashi, yours too!"

"Gai, if Lina doesn't want one, you shouldn't push her." Kakashi said lazily, making Gai pause and pout in Lina's direction, which in turn made Kakashi nearly gag, seeing a 30 year old man pout like that. Lina giggled and sighed. "Maa, Gai, if you feel it's that important to you, of course we can have a party. But on one condition, alright?"

"Name it!" Gai whooped, excited. Lina grinned at his enthusiasm and said, "No big groups of people. Just a small group. I just know that if we have a party I'm going to end up the one cleaning all the crap up."

"Ah, but the more the merrier, isn't that how the saying goes?" Gai pleaded, but Lina shook her head. "Yes, but no." She watched Gai slump and nod sullenly, and she patted him on the arm. "You're in charge. Nothing too...flamboyant, alright? Low key, that's the theme." She quirked an eyebrow and smiled as she watched Gai leap up, and raise his fist . "Yosh! I will make this the party of the year! No, the party of the decade! No, the century!"

Lina groaned, already regretting her decision to make him the leader, but she wasn't about to take it away from him now.

"You're going to regret that." Kakashi murmured, chuckling at Lina's misfortune. Lina shot him a pained look and said loudly, "Gai, how about you start planning? I'm going to start unpacking my stuff."

"But of course! Come, Kakashi! We can plan out the best party and compete against each other!" Gai said loudly, swinging and arm around Kakashi's shoulders. Kakashi quickly looked over at Lina in alarm. Surely she'd save him from that fate, right? Lina grinned and shook her head surreptitiously. Kakashi's visible eye widened and he quickly said, "Maa, Gai, I'm not really feeling up to it. Besides, I'm sure anything you come up with will be 10 times better than me."

"Nonsense, Kakashi-o!" Gai began pulling at Kakashi's arm, attempting to drag him to the door.

"Actually Gai, since we just came back from the mission, I haven't debriefed Kakashi yet. Do you mind giving us some privacy?" Lina lied quickly, coming to his rescue. Kakashi glanced at her, relieved. Spending time planning a party with Gai was not what he had in mind for the rest of the day.

Gai nodded, understandingly. "Got it. Next time, Kakashi. Ja na!" He walked out of apartment, leaving an eerie silence in his extravagant personality's wake. Snorting, Lina turned to Kakashi.

"It's going to be weird living near him, isn't it?"

Kakashi smirked at her and said, "You have no idea. Just wait until he comes knocking on your door at dawn asking you to train with him." He grinned under his mask as he watched Lina's amused expression slide right off of her face. Scooting over, he slung an arm over her shoulders, but in the next moment found the seat next to him empty.

"Hang on a second. I'm slightly paranoid." Lina murmured, walking to the door. Closing and locking it, she created several water clones and dispatched them around the flat, looking for any listening bugs or jutsus. Better safe than sorry, who knew who used to live here, if they'd had any enemies, and so on. Crossing her arms, Lina waited for the clones to report back. As each disappeared with a shake of their head, Lina slowly walked back to Kakashi. Finally, the last one disabled itself, and Lina smiled.

"Done?" Kakashi asked, watching the clones inspect the apartment. The original nodded and sat down beside him, her head settling on his chest as his arm came around her again.

"It's sort of sad. I miss Kurenai." Lina raised her hand to trace a random pattern on Kakashi's chest. Kakashi nodded, despite not really understanding from personal experience. He'd always been a loner, but he knew that most people did seek out human contact. Pulling her closer, he said, "Well, on the bright side, you've gained Gai as a neighbor. He'll come by all the time, even when you don't want him to." He smiled as he felt Lina giggle and snuggle closer.

"Well, maybe with us telling everyone tonight, he'll realize that he shouldn't come in without knocking?" Lina suggested. Kakashi shook his head. "Don't count on it. He's just that persistent. On the other hand, I'm sure he'll learn if we set up a similar situation to this morning...with Tenten, Lee, and Neji?" Grinning, he watched Lina gape up at him before she smacked his chest, blushing slightly and giggling.

"Dummy! We can't do that! Gosh, that would be awful. Wait a second. Kakashi...Gai's...he's, _done it_ before...right?" Lina asked hesitantly. Somehow, she couldn't imagine Gai doing 'that' with someone, but surely he'd been in bed with a woman or man before. Come to think of it, was he even straight?

"Yes, Lina, Gai's had sex before." Kakashi grimaced at the memory of Gai telling him the first time he'd done it with a girl, sure that he'd finally beat Kakashi at something. Of course, Kakashi had beaten him to it several weeks earlier without telling him, but the details of Gai's intimate night remained etched in the poor genius' memories.

"What is it?" Lina watched Kakashi's face go through a series of emotions, mostly pain and regret. She watched Kakashi shake his head. "Nothing, just remembering something awful. You honestly don't need to know." Lina raised an eyebrow and tilted her head. "Oh? Give me a hint?" Kakashi sighed and said, "About Gai's first time."

Sitting up, Lina looked at Kakashi, shocked. "His first...oh my God. You and Gai?!" She immediately blushed, thinking of the two of them in bed together. She was shaken out of the scene in her head as Kakashi shook his head strongly.

"No! He told me about it, that's all!" Kakashi said, aghast. Watching Lina's dazed expression, he shook her lightly. "Lina! We never EVER did that!"

Giggling, Lina looked at Kakashi, amused that he was so intent on her knowing the 'truth'. Seeing her giggle, Kakashi immediately let her go, asking, "Did you...you just imagined the two of us together, didn't you?" He groaned as Lina nodded, smiling goofily.

"It looks good too. You know, if you and I don't end up working out, you should know that you have options." She teased, grinning as she watched Kakashi slump in defeat.

"Lina, don't even joke about that. If I have to resort to sleeping with _Gai_ of all people, I think I'll kill myself first."

"Aw, don't say that! That's mean. Gai's really sweet! And with his taijutsu training, you know that his body's all rock-hard. You can totally see it with his green leotard thing." Lina half-joked. Suddenly, she felt an ominous feeling come from Kakashi, and in a second she found herself pushed down on the couch, Kakashi leaning over her.

"You know, it's not very nice to compliment another man in front of your boyfriend." Kakashi's voice was low, dangerous, and Lina smiled up at him.

"Are you jealous? Of _Gai_?" She stressed his name, pursing her lips. She blinked up at Kakashi, and after a moment they both burst out laughing.

Still giggling, Lina got up, making Kakashi pull back and sit on the couch again. Crawling to him, she softly tugged at his shirt. Taking the hint, Kakashi brought his legs up onto the couch and turned to face her until they were facing each other, kneeling on the couch. Raising herself up from sitting on her calves, Lina delicately pulled down Kakashi's mask and took off his hitai ate, smiling as his face came into view. In the same moment, Kakashi reached behind and tugged at the hair tie keeping Lina's hair in her bun. Finished, Lina leaned in deliberately slowly, hovering just above his lips for a long pause before quickly twisting her head around to peck him lightly on the cheek, giggling once more as she pulled back just as quickly. Watching Kakashi's expression turn to surprise, Lina giggled some more, watching him.

"That's it?"

Lina smiled before schooling her face into an innocently questioning expression.

"Were you expecting something more?"

Kakashi stared at her, still sitting in front of her, and slowly leaned in towards her, frowning as he watched her lean backwards, shaking her head slowly. Leaning even more forwards, Kakashi forced her to keep leaning back, until she was laying the couch with him above her. Just as he was about to cage her between his hands, Lina squeaked and tried to drop off of the couch, only to end up laying on her back as Kakashi caged her too quickly. Gasping, Lina tried to wiggle out in what little room he gave her, but Kakashi snaked his arms around her, lowering himself on her carefully.

"I gotcha." Remembering their chase in the forest several days earlier, Kakashi grinned, feeling her squirming under him. Pulling her hair to one side, he softly licked her upper shoulder, stilling her movements to escape. Laying her head down in a soft hum, Lina said softly, "Maa, Kakashi, not on the couch." Her eyes drifted shut as she felt Kakashi kiss her again, his hands lifting her torso slightly to travel around her body.

"Why not?" Kakashi said lowly into her skin, biting playfully .

"Because, because I-ah shit, that feels so good!" Lina curved her back into Kakashi's body, her head bent down, as she tried to regain her composure. "Because it's my apartment, and I said so." She finished speaking quickly, slumping into the couch as Kakashi continued to tease her, now licking the back of her ear. She heard and felt him snicker, his low voice sending reverberations through her body.

"Oh? Is that a rule now?" Kakashi purposely spoke breathily, allowing his breath to tickle her ear. Feeling her shudder, Kakashi tightened his hold around her and waited. Breathing in sharply, Lina nodded her head, saying in a voice just above a whisper, "Yes."

"I'm sorry, what? I didn't quite catch that." Kakashi teased, nibbling on her ear. He looked over her hands, seeing them clenching in the cushions.

"Yes." Lina ground out, summoning her strength to speak clearly.

"Yes what?" Kakashi prodded on, making Lina groan in anguish.

"Yes! The rule is...no sex in the living room!" Lina spoke harshly, gasping as she felt him switch sides on her body.

"Ahh, thank you for speaking clearly. No sex in the living room, eh? Too bad, but I suppose I can make do with not having sex with you here. After all, there are many things we could do that fit the criteria and can be just as fun." Kakashi smirked, one hand sliding down to open Lina's legs. Immediately he felt her clench down on his hand.

"No, Kakashi. I'm serious. Not here. My room." Lina's voice, while breathy, showed her sincerity, and Kakashi stopped, whining slightly as he got up. Watching her get up slowly, Kakashi waited for her to turn around before he grabbed her chin, intent on finally kissing her. Lina pulled away, grinning.

"Nope."

Kakashi stared at her, not understanding. "Why not?" He watched Lina smirk and tilt her chin up in defiance.

"You need to work for it." Her eyes sparkled with playfulness, and Kakashi smirked in return.

"Oh? Then I'd better get working, ne?" Kakashi stood up, taking Lina's hand, and tugged her towards her bedroom.

Entering her bedroom, Kakashi turned to her and said, "Looks like we're going to break your bed in." Lina snorted, nodding. Kakashi's smile slowly evaporated and was replaced with a fiery stare. Pulling her to the bed, Kakashi spoke softly. "Lie on your front on the bed." He watched Lina stiffen slightly but nod, reminding herself to trust him.

"Just out of curiosity, why my front?" Lina asked, pillowing her head with her arms, still fully clothed.

Kakashi crawled up to her, and then over her, and said, "I told you before that you have a beautiful back. Besides, if you're on your back, I'll be tempted to kiss you." Finished talking, Kakashi pulled Lina's hair off to the side again, kissing the back of her neck, following her spine as far down as he could before her shirt began to tug. Licking her softly, Kakashi spoke into her skin, "You wanted me to work for my kiss? You'd better hold on tight."

Lina giggled and said, "I can take anything you dish out, Kakashi-kun. I'm no stranger to rough sex." She smiled as she felt him growl into her, his hands creeping under her shirt. Bringing herself up to rest on her elbows, Lina prepared herself for Kakashi's assault. Lifting herself up slightly, Lina's body began to heat up as she watched and felt Kakashi's hands cup her breasts from inside her bra. Watching his hands move, causing the ripples of her shirt, Lina hummed, beginning to feel a buzz throughout her body.

Bringing one hand down to grab the hem of her shirt, Kakashi pulled it up, revealing her back and bra. Reaching her shoulders, Kakashi said, "Lie on the bed and relax." Watching Lina comply, he gently picked her up, pulling the shirt over her head and off of her arms. Quickly undoing her bra, Kakashi tossed it aside as well, returning to her body hastily. His hands coming around to her front to cup her breasts, Kakashi kneaded them softly, slowly increasing the intensity as he kissed and licked Lina's neck. Moving his hips in circular motions, Kakashi harshly said, "Turn your head to the side." Seeing her turn to the wrong side, Kakashi pulled on her nipples harshly, making her gasp and cry out sharply.

"Wrong side." Lina turned her head to the other side, her body squirming under Kakashi's hands, and her wondering vaguely what it mattered which side her head was facing. As she settled back, she felt Kakashi kiss her cheek and jaw, his hands moving in a harsher pace as he teased her breasts. Whining, Lina moved her hips into Kakashi's, wanting more. Feeling her move against him, Kakashi let go of her breasts and brought his hands down to steady her hips.

"Patience."

Lina tried to push back against him, whining as she heard him chuckle darkly. "Kakashi…"

"Maa, don't tell me you're almost done already?" Kakashi teased. Lina immediately realized something. She'd said that she wouldn't kiss him, but she never said she'd just lay here and let him torture her. Hell, she could torture him too. Breathing in deeply, Lina quickly gathered her wits about her, thankful that she'd realized this early on. Pulling her legs into her body, Lina reached up to grab the edge of the covers to cover her front, crawling up to the top of the bed before she twisted back to face Kakashi, who sat frozen in the middle of the bed, watching her. Smiling lopsidedly, she quirked a finger at him, beckoning him over. Feeling the bed shake as he moved, Lina kept her eyes on Kakashi, biting her lip as her heart began to pound again as he closed in on her.

"I never said I'd stay still." Lina explained, running a hand up Kakashi's chest when he sat in front of her, still fully clothed. Looking up at Kakashi through her lashes, Lina smiled shyly as she felt him stare down at her. Reaching around him, Lina pulled him into an embrace, breathing in deeply his now-familiar smell. Feeling him hold her as well, Lina slipped her hands down his chest, tugging at the hem of his uniform shirt. Pulling it up, Lina tugged it over Kakashi's head, the covers dropping from her body in the process. Quickly picking them again before Kakashi noticed, Lina covered herself up, leaning forwards into Kakashi's bare chest (where was his tank top?).

As she rested her forehead against his shoulder, she felt Kakashi's hands come up to her upper arms and begin to raise them, loosening their grip on the covers shielding her. Resisting, Lina made a protesting noise and pulled away.

"Don't, you'll uncover me." She stilled, re-listening to that sentence in her head, and groaned. "_Not_ how I meant to say that!" She heard Kakashi chuckle and she blushed, pushing her hand on his chest lightly.

"You really love doing that, don't you, pervert?" Kakashi teased, watching her jaw slacken and drop slightly before she burst out laughing. Lina finally looked up at him, smirking, and said, "Well, I kind of have to be a pervert to keep up with you, don't I?"

Kakashi smirked in response and nodded. "Definitely. Now, let me _uncover_ you, shall I?"

Lina gasped and tightened her hold on the covers, crossing her arms over her chest and shook her head, resisting Kakashi's tugging. "Noo, Kakashi, stop!" She felt his strength beating hers, and she began giggling uncontrollably.

Grinning, Kakashi watched Lina squirm, and he slowly increased his strength, wanting to prolong the tug-of-war between them. Watching her scrunch up her face, Kakashi said coaxingly, "Come on, it's not like I haven't seen anything." Lina shook her head frantically and tightened her hold once more, feeling Kakashi's hands slowly peeling her arms away from her chest. "No, Kakashi, it's embarrassing!"

"Really, you're embarrassed about me seeing you naked?" Kakashi quirked an eyebrow at Lina, watching her nod furiously. Smirking once more, he pushed her sideways onto the bed, pulling one of her arms up away from the covers. Holding her arm above her head, Kakashi shifted his body so that his was crouching on top of her, loving how her eyes were trailing down his body appreciatively before returning back to his eyes.

Lina squeaked as she fell onto the bed. Still shielding herself with one arm, she stopped her struggles to stared at Kakashi's body, smiling slightly as she remembered bits and pieces of things she'd done in certain places. Finally looking back up at him, she began struggling again, to no avail. She watched his lips and heard him say, "This is payback for your cheating earlier. You didn't think I'd forgotten, did you?" Lina gasped, staring back at him and nodded slightly, only to make him shake his head.

"Tsk tsk, you're so naïve. Now, if you don't want to be punished any further, you'll raise your other arm." Kakashi watched Lina still for a moment, suddenly radiating wariness and apprehensiveness.

"What are you going to do?" Lina was about 80% sure that he wouldn't hurt her, but only 65% sure that she could get out of anything in off chance that he did. She knew he'd felt her emotions shift when she felt him loosen his grip on her hand minutely. She just hoped he didn't ask if she trusted him, because she wasn't sure she could say 'yes'.

Kakashi felt her change, and slowly brought his other hand to her waist, feeling her tense up slightly. "Hey, it's alright. We're just playing, right?" He tried to radiate comfort, and it must have worked, because after a moment, Lina relaxed and smiled, nodding. Kakashi nodded back, waiting for her to make the next move. He watched her close her eyes briefly, his open eye widening slightly as he watched her bite her lip and slowly raise her other arm up, leaving the covers on her body with nothing holding them. As he watched her move, he lifted his hand up slightly from holding her arm above her head, and gathered her other arm, placing it next to the first and holding them both by the wrist.

As Lina watched him watch her arm, she felt a tension begin to form between them. Suddenly, it seemed that her insecurity had made the situation a lot more serious and a lot less playful. Wanting to go back to the playfulness of before, Lina smiled lopsidedly and gently tugged her arms under his grip. Catching his attention, Lina slyly said, "So, are you going to punish me now?" She felt the tension disappear in an instant as Kakashi caught the teasing note in her voice, and she grinned inwardly, watching his smirk slowly form again.

"Maa, if you're never punished, how will you know not to cheat in the future?" Kakashi said lowly, his eye glowing as his free hand moved up from her waist. Reaching the covers, he dipped a finger under them, dipping it into the valley between her breasts. Grasping the covers, Kakashi slowly pulled them down, exposing her breasts slowly. He felt Lina shiver under him, and he smirked, knowing the slow pace was causing friction on her nipples, but he maintained his speed. Finally uncovering them, Kakashi stopped just as the underside was fully shown, at the bottom of her rib cage. Finished with the covers, Kakashi's eye flew up to meet hers, lowering himself onto her breasts, breathing softly on them as he watched her face. As he breathed on her, just barely grazing her breasts, he watched her shiver. Seeing her eyes drift shut, he spoke. "No. Open your eyes. Look at me."

Lina opened her eyes and looked down her body at Kakashi, still hovering over her breasts. Her eyes widened as she watched him poke his tongue out and imitate the motion of licking her, while not touching her at all. Whimpering at the lack of contact yet hint of what could be, Lina fisted her hands, still above her head, and bit her lip tightly, her heart beginning to pound. Softly, she said, "This is punishment?"

Kakashi nodded, eyes still trained on hers, and said, "You keep your eyes on me instead of closing them like always. Watch me play with you." As a reward for not closing her eyes immediately (or perhaps it was more of a punishment, he couldn't quite tell), Kakashi dipped his tongue further and lightly brushed it against her nipple, just barely touching it, causing it to pucker up and harden. He watched her throw back her head and moan, trying to arch her body to make him touch her more, but he just moved backwards. Laughing breathily, Kakashi said, "Uh uh uh~. No moving." He waited for her to bend her head back down to meet his gaze before he moved onto the other breast, smirking. Feeling ready to get the main event started, Kakashi began pulling at the covers, slowly pulling them down her body until they bunched up at the junction where her legs were still straddling his body. Slowly releasing her hands, Kakashi warningly said, "Keep your hands where they are. Don't move." He looked up at Lina for confirmation, and upon receiving it, he reached around her waist, lifting her up slightly, and pulled the covers off of her legs, which were still clothed in training pants that hung at her hips.

Lina watched Kakashi remove the covers completely, leaving her naked on her upper body. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, remembering his rule of her keeping her hands up, and turned her head away in embarrassment before she felt a finger tap on her nose. Looking down, she saw Kakashi staring at her. "Eyes on me." Clenching her jaws, Lina nodded, gasping as she felt him breathe on her as he moved down her body, causing goosebumps to form. Kakashi saw the bumps and asked, "Cold?" He saw her nod, and he smirked. _'Good, then she's ready.' _Reaching her navel, Kakashi bent down to lick the skin around her belly button, dipping his tongue into the opening slightly. He felt Lina gasp and arch her back, shuddering at both the sudden heat of his mouth and the sensation.

"Kakashi-no! Not there, ah!" Lina cried out, feeling the sensation go through her body. Unable to control herself, Lina brought her hands down to Kakashi's head, only to have them swatted away. Kakashi stopped his movements and said, "I told you to keep your hands up." Looking at her, Kakashi remembered that she was really sensitive for some reason that she was too embarrassed to say. Well, he'd just have to see if he couldn't get it out of her. Lighting up at the challenge, Kakashi brought his hands back up to her nipples, tweaking them harshly as he dove his tongue back around the skin surrounding Lina's belly button. Sucking and smirking at Lina's surprised yelp, Kakashi tortured her endlessly for several moments, building her up just enough that she could feel the tension in her body, but not enough to throw her off the proverbial cliff.

Lina squirmed under his touch, her head tossing from side to side as she clung to the sheets above her head to keep from either dragging him up to her mouth or pushing him down to her entrance. Clenching her jaws, Lina tried not to cry out for fear of alerting the neighbors. She'd never cared while at Kakashi's apartment, but that was only because everyone knew his habit of being with women, so they wouldn't care. It would be a bad first impression if the first things the neighbors heard of her were her carnal screams of ecstasy. After what seemed like an eternity, Lina felt Kakashi remove his hands and mouth from her, softly placing gentle kisses along her stomach.

"Well done You kept your hands up. But why'd you keep quiet? I like it better when I can hear your voice." Kakashi murmured softly, watching Lina's breasts move in time with her rapid breathing.

"N-neighbors. There's no sound-proofing jutsu." Lina huffed, her body shaking slightly.

"So? I don't have a sound-proofing jutsu in my apartment." Kakashi stated, nibbling softly.

"Yeah, but you're the Konoha pervert, and everyone knows it. I'd prefer people _don't_ think I'm a pervert. Besides, I don't think my parents would appreciate me soiling the family name."

"By having sex? Which doesn't make you a pervert, it makes you normal." Kakashi raised himself to look into her eyes, running fingers down her face to smooth away strands of hair that had fallen over it. He watched her smile gently up at him.

"Kakashi, I'm from the Sasaki clan. Not quite as traditional as the Hyuuga or Uchiha, but still up there in terms of having rules and stuff. I'm supposed to be a virgin until I get married." She watched him stare at her wide-eyed.

"Seriously? Wow. I mean, I know the Hyuuga and Uchiha had tough disciplines to follow, but that's, well, crazy. Sorry, no offense." Kakashi couldn't imagine not having sex until he was married. Then again, he was the famous Pervert of Konoha, as Lina said.

Lina shook her head smilingly, finding the strength to reach up and touch his face. "None taken, and I know. There are tons of rules and regulations that I need to follow as the eldest sibling of the Sasaki clan. Well, not so much anymore, I suppose…" _'Considering my parents haven't once reached out to me since they kicked me out, I'm guessing I'm not exactly part of the Sasaki clan anymore…'_

Kakashi watched Lina's expression turn to one of contemplation and sadness, and he bent down to nuzzle his nose against hers. He'd heard her comment about not having to follow the rules anymore, and coupled with his previous memories of her crying at his doorstep the first day back in Konoha, and then her asking about forgetting the value of something, and finally, now, her pained expression after talking about her family, he could guess what the problem was. Of course, he wasn't about to broach the topic, seeing as she'd been considerate enough to hold off on the questions when he'd felt upset. Giving her an Eskimo kiss, Kakashi watched Lina's eyes come back to the present and soften slightly as she nuzzled him back after a moment.

Lina was brought back to the present by Kakashi's gentle nudging, and her heart warmed. Nudging him back, she softly said, "Kiss me." Looking straight ahead into Kakashi's visible eye, Lina watched him tilt his head slightly at an angle and kiss her softly, their eyes still looking into each other. Releasing her now-loose grip on the sheets above her head, Lina slipped her arms around Kakashi's back, sliding her eyelids closed as she slowly deepened the kiss. Keeping it soft, Kakashi allowed Lina to take control, following her lead and gently playing with her tongue with his own. As they stopped for air, Lina sucked in her bottom lip and swallowed some accumulated saliva, eyes still trained on Kakashi's open eye. Slowly, she raised her head up slightly to capture his bottom lip, tugging it down until she could reach it without having to lift her head up. Releasing it, Lina kissed him again, still soft as a feather, enshrouding herself in the feeling of touching, kissing, and being touched, and kissed by Kakashi.

Kakashi wrapped his arms around her, lifting her up slightly so that he could move his arms all the way behind her. Holding her to him, he continued to kiss her, noticing that she was only using the utmost gentle touch with him, as if she thought he might break if she pushed too hard. Releasing her lips, Kakashi trailed soft kisses down the side of her jaw, nuzzling the junction where her neck met her jaw.

Lina sighed as she felt him move to her neck and she said softly, "Kakashi?"

"Yes?" Kakashi didn't stop his movements, keeping them slow and soft.

"Is it okay if we keep it vanilla?" Lina knew he would know what she meant, and she was suddenly feeling too emotionally drained to be embarrassed. The aftermath of the mission, Tenten and the others finding out, telling the others later tonight, and now thinking about what on earth would happen if her parents heard about her and Kakashi was a little too much for her.

Kakashi drew back to look at her, surprised. "I didn't think you'd still be up for it." He watched Lina smile and giggle. "Oh Kakashi, how could I not be up for it when you wound me up so much just a few minutes ago?" Grinning, Kakashi bent down to kiss her again, his hands sliding her arms off of his back so he could intertwine his fingers between hers. Placing their connected hands on each side of her head, Kakashi began trailing kisses down her neck, listening for every breath that caught in her throat as he hit certain sweet spots. He could feel her heart racing more than ever before, and he wondered if it was due to her extra sensitivity, or her change in emotion, or perhaps a bit of both.

"Don't, Kakashi! I-I'm going to make too much n-noise!" Lina fought to keep her voice down, her head spinning as she felt Kakashi suck her nipples. Her hyper-sensitivity coupled with Kakashi's excellent bedroom skills and her recent emotional mini-trauma made it exceedingly difficult for her to control her voice, especially when her hands were firmly clasped against Kakashi's, unable to shield her mouth.

"No one says you can't make noise when having sex, Lina-chan. You just made that decision yourself." Kakashi lifted himself up to smirk at Lina, holding strong against her tugs to release her hands from his. He watched Lina shake her head quickly. "B-but Kakashi! It's the middle of the day!" Quirking an eyebrow, he regarded her and said, "So?" He chuckled as he watched her groan in frustration. Sighing, he made 4 shadow clones. The clones quickly walked to each wall in her bedroom and performed the sound-proofing jutsu before releasing itself. Lina watched the clones move, and when the last one disappeared, she looked back at Kakashi.

"Happy?" Kakashi looked down at her, waiting for her answer. Lina smiled shyly up at him and said, "It's too bad we're keeping it vanilla. I know several things we could do with shadow clones…" Her smile widened as she watched Kakashi grin back at her and bend down to kiss her.

"Ah, a girl after my own heart. Another time." Kakashi murmured into her lips before saying in a normal voice, "Now that we've sound-proofed the room, can we continue?" He quirked a sarcastic eyebrow at her, to which she promptly stuck out her tongue at him. Seeing him lean forward quickly, Lina hastily withdrew her tongue from his reach, just in time as his teeth snapped right in front of her lips.

Smiling, Lina kissed him softly, careful to keep her tongue in her own mouth in case he decided to take revenge. Since her hands were now free, Lina placed one hand on Kakashi's shoulder, reaching up with the other one to cup his face. Gently pushing on his shoulder, Lina pushed him back-first into the bed, crawling on top of him. Running her fingers through his hair, Lina moaned into the kiss, her senses still buzzing. She felt Kakashi reach up and pull her closer, and in a moment they were sitting up, Lina's legs wrapped around his waist. Adjusting, Lina tentatively moved her hips against Kakashi's, smiling as she watched him open his mouth slightly and groan. Leaning into his chest, she continued move, one of her hands reaching around his back and clutching at his shoulder while the other remained on his chest. As she slowly lost herself in the rhythm, Lina felt Kakashi reach down and grab her hand, pulling it up to his lips. Turning her head to watch, Lina whimpered as she felt him kiss his way up her arm starting from her fingertips, pausing and paying special attention to her inner arm. Reaching her elbow, Kakashi dipped his head down and kissed her again, leaving her hand free again.

Giving herself some room, she slid her hand down, placing it directly above his increasing bulge, squeezing gently. Smiling as she made Kakashi jerk, his head bending down to slump into her shoulder, Lina slowly worked to increase the size of the bulge, rubbing it through the fabric of his pants. She was just beginning to get used to it when she felt Kakashi reach up and cup her breasts in his hands. Gasping, Lina looked up at him in surprise, meeting his burning stare. Looking at each other, the pair allowed the moment of their connected gaze prolong itself, stilling, before they each leaned towards the other, meeting in a once-more impassioned kiss. Slowly, Kakashi placed Lina on the bed, moving his legs up so that he was crouching between hers instead. Feeling herself drop to the bed, Lina resumed rubbing Kakashi through his pants, breaking away from the kiss to gasp as she felt him also resume moving his hands on her breasts. Staring, they watched each other react to their hands, Lina drawing Kakashi closer to a conclusion, and Kakashi slowly making Lina cry out louder than before.

Just as Lina was feeling Kakashi throb and harden impossibly under her hand, she heard Kakashi gasp out quickly. "N-no, Lina, stop. I don't want to come." Blushing lightly, she released Kakashi, throwing her head back in a heady moan as Kakashi immediately bent down to take a breast in his mouth. Feeling Kakashi play with her nipples yet again was excruciating delicious for her, and soon she was crying out in euphoria, eyes wide open and staring unseeingly at the ceiling as she peaked, her hands gripping the sheets under her tightly, her legs tense and bent around Kakashi's body.

Watching Lina climax, Kakashi felt a swell of pride as he knew that he had made her like this. Crawling up to capture her panting mouth again, Kakashi softly said, "Damn, you really are sensitive." Feeling a small thump on his side, Kakashi looked down to see Lina's hand grazing him lightly. Looking back up at her, he smirked as he heard her say, "Jerk."

"What? Did you not want to come?" He'd noticed her blush when he'd said it before, and he tested it out again, grinning as he watched her blush again.

"Not like that." Lina muttered, knowing he'd heard her.

"Oh? Then how?" Kakashi teased, willing her to play. Lina looked up at him and rolled her eyes. "I wanted to...do it...the normal way."

"Do it? Do what? Lina, you must learn to communicate properly if you hope to become a jounin." Kakashi smirked, toying with her. Lina gasped and glared at him. "Low blow, Kakashi." She pursed her lips as he chuckled.

"That may be, but you still have to answer my question." Kakashi towered over her, waiting. Lina looked up at him, hesitantly running her arms up his chest in hopes of making him forget, but he simply stared back at her. Biting her lip, Lina gave him her best pout and reached down to cup him down below. Feeling him stiffen, Lina softly said, "I want this." To her dismay, Kakashi pulled her hand away from the bulge, holding it to her side and said, "After you've answered my question."

Giving up, Lina rolled onto her front, burying her head in the sheets and said just loud enough that she knew he'd hear her, "I wanted to come the normal way."

Blushing hotly, she groaned in embarrassment, hiding her head with a hand slung over it. Hearing Kakashi chuckle, Lina aimed a swift kick behind her at what she hoped was a part, any part, of Kakashi's body. Hearing the grunt of pain and feeling her foot connect with something, Lina grinned into the sheets despite herself. After a moment, she felt Kakashi crawl to her, his hand finally letting go of her other hand so she could hide her head with that one too. Feeling his hands come up to trace down her back, Lina heard him say pointedly, "Ow."

Lina, still hiding herself, mumbled, "You deserved it." earning herself another round of chuckles. Feeling herself get lifted up, Lina found herself sitting upright, Kakashi supporting her from behind, his legs flanking hers.

"I don't get it. You read Icha Icha, you're fine with sex, and you certainly have your kinky moments, but you can't talk dirty or show yourself to me? Tell me why, Lina."

Lina stiffened as she heard his words. She didn't mind telling him why she was the way she was, but she knew that as soon as she did, it would lead to more questions, questions she didn't want to answer. But this was_ Kakashi_. One week with him and she already felt more emotions than she'd felt with anyone in her entire life.

"Lina?" Kakashi stroked her arms having felt her stiffen. He watched her shake her head. And then he heard her.

"I have no problem with talking dirty, at least not when I'm in henge. Same goes for um, showing myself to the people I sleep with. But of course, I'm not in henge right now, so it's different." Lina said softly, her arms coming up to cross in front of her chest in subconscious defense. Her heart beating quickly, Lina felt Kakashi's arms come around her again, and heard him say, "I'm your first?" He of course knew the answer, but he still wanted to hear her say it.

"Yes." Lina whispered, her heart pounding almost out of her chest. Closing her eyes, Lina tried to breathe deeply, calm herself, but it didn't work.

"Relax, Lina. I can feel your heartbeat through your chest. Relax." Kakashi soothed, alarmed that he could see Lina's chest thump in time with each heartbeat. Turning her chin to face him, Kakashi dipped down to kiss her, briefly wondering why he was so concerned over her. Of course, the obvious answer was that she was his girlfriend, but after years of solitude and sleeping around, it felt odd to care.

Lina slowly opened her eyes, her heart back to normal again, and saw Kakashi gazing down at her softly, his charcoal eye making her melt. Gathering her hair to the side farthest from Kakashi, Lina leaned her bare back against his bare chest, closing her eyes at the sensation of their skin coming into contact with each other. She could feel Kakashi's heartbeat, strong and steady, against her back, and she slowly relaxed. Snuggling in further, Lina wiggled herself into a comfortable position against Kakashi's chest and said softly, "So, am I going to get a home run from you anytime soon, or are we going to dance around third base all day like a pair of teenagers?" She giggled as she felt Kakashi's laugh vibrate in his chest.

"Impatient, are we?" Kakashi chuckled, his mouth at her temple. He bowed quickly as Lina elbowed him in the gut lightly.

"Hey! You're the one who made me talk dirty, saying that I had to answer your question before I got anything. Well, I've answered your question. Now give it up, Hatake." Lina poked Kakashi's stomach repeatedly, remembering his tickle spots. Squealing as she felt him tighten his hold around her, restraining her. Lina squirmed and tried to wiggle away, but she found herself with nowhere to go. Turning into Kakashi's chest, Lina ran her hand up his chest, feeling him under her fingertips. Smiling, she looked up at Kakashi and tapped his nose, asking him to come down. Kakashi obligingly met her in a deep kiss, slowly lowering her back onto the bed. As his hands began to roam again, he felt Lina break away from the kiss half-way, and he whined in protest.

"Kakashi, no more foreplay." Lina warned, looking up at him. Kakashi snickered and nodded, trailing soft quick kisses down her chest and abdomen, slowing as he arrived at the hem of her pants. He could smell her juices, even more potent now considering she'd just peaked a short while ago. He cupped her through her pants, smirking at how wet she was, even through the cloth. Quickly, he pulled down her pants, tossing them aside. Sinking his face in her stomach, Kakashi kissed Lina as he began to move his fingers against her. Feeling her arch herself into him, gasping, Kakashi dipped his fingers in, feeling her walls ripple around them. Lina reached down to lift Kakashi's face back to meet hers. Kissing him, Lina moaned and writhed under his touch as he began to move more insistently. Feeling herself nearly there, Lina quickly stopped and gasped out, "No, Kakashi. Inside me." She felt Kakashi remove his hands from her and watched him reach up to lick her juices off of his fingers. Smiling, Lina tugged on the waistband of his pants, her hands dipping in to trace around his still-hard bulge. She tried to push him back again so that she was on top, but Kakashi dropped his weight on the bed, smirking as he watched her fight.

Panting, Lina looked up and said, whining, "You're too heavy. Move."

"No."

Lina blinked up at him, surprised. "What?"

"I said no. I like having you caged in my arms." Lina stared up at him before bursting out laughing at his absurd little statement. Laughing, she wrapped her arms around Kakashi once more, bringing him down to her again. Wrapping one leg around him, Lina pushed into the bed with her other leg, using it to push Kakashi off of her and onto the bed. Clambering on top of him, Lina bent down and said against his lips, "I told you, I like topping. I'm not just going to stay still and let you do all the work." Kissing him softly, Lina moved down his body, mapping out all of his known tickle-spots as payback for him using his weight against her. Grazing against a nipple, Lina lingered, wondering if he was still as sensitive as before. Licking it lightly, Lina smiled as she felt him grunt and tense up. Continuing, she ran her hands down his body, continuing to search and activate his tickle points as she sucked. Feeling him move a little too much for her liking, Lina sat down on his hips, hoping her weight would settle him down at bit. It worked, and she found herself pinning him down as she toyed with him.

"Lina-ah! I thought you said no foreplay." Kakashi growled, wanting to just take her already, but at the same time wanting to prolong the moment. He felt her murmur into his chest, "Payback."

Lina kissed her way down his body and slipped her hands into his waistband, pulling his pants off his legs. Looking down at his boxers, Lina traced a finger up and down the bulge formed inside, smiling as she felt him twitch. Crawling back up, Lina slowly began pulling down her panties. Watching her, Kakashi reached up and stilled her hands. "I'll do it." They stared at each other as Kakashi reached down and pulled them off of her from behind. Smiling slightly, Lina ran her hands down to Kakashi's boxers, and said softly, "My turn. Hips up." She imitated his actions, adding in a firm squeeze of his butt as she pulled down his boxers, grinning as she felt him buck upwards. Kissing his chest and abdomen as she slowly pulled him free, Lina made her way to the newly unclothed area.

Stealing a glance up at Kakashi, smiling as she saw him look down at her, Lina shyly said, "We can consider this vanilla...right? After all, this is you and me we're talking about. For us, this pretty much counts as vanilla. Ne?" She delicately drew a finger down the underside of his length, ending right down the middle of his two orbs.

Kakashi groaned, willing himself to stay in place and not grab her and fuck her. Breathing in deeply, he said, "You're choice." He didn't care anymore, damn it!

Smiling, Lina kissed him softly at the base, licking and humming in satisfaction as she felt him twitch. Making her way up his length, Lina propped herself on her elbows between his legs, her hands reaching down to circle his base, and slowly lowered her mouth around him, moving up and down. Feeling Lina close her mouth around him, Kakashi moaned loudly, only to gasp as he felt something else. Looking down at her through his lust-clouded eyes, Kakashi jerked his legs as he felt it again. Throwing his head back Kakashi groaned and said, "L-hah-Lina, yo-mm! you're hair…" Pausing, Lina looked up at Kakashi before she looked down at where her hair ends were. Noticing them brushing against Kakashi's inner thighs, Lina tucked the strands behind her ears and pushed them behind her. Softly, she ran her fingers up and down his thighs, surprised to see him jerk his legs at the touch.

"You're sensitive here?" Lina teased, watching Kakashi arch up. Bending down, Lina placed on hand on one of his knees, kissing her way along the other leg's inner thigh, nipping lightly, smiling as she felt him move. Holding his legs down as best as she could, Lina delicately licked her way up, her eyes on his length, lighting up as it twitched and leaked a little. Kakashi was panting hard, his body lost to the sensation of her tongue running along his inner thigh. Letting out a guttural groan as she switched legs, Kakashi's hands found their way into her hair, pulling at it to steer her towards his length again. Following his hands, Lina softly ran her tongue once more along him before she fully covered him to the base in one downward motion, causing him to grip her head tighter, arching up at the sudden return of the heat of her mouth.

Bobbing up and down, Lina used her newly acquired knowledge of Kakashi's sensitive points and swatting his hands away before she pulled her hair to her front on both sides, her hands reaching up to tweak and toy with his nipples. She grinned inwardly as she heard Kakashi's moans grow stronger. Kakashi, having not had sex for 3 days, and only just had it earlier today, was still very sensitive. With Lina playing with both of his nipples, taking him in her mouth, _and_ her hair tickling his inner thighs to distract him, Kakashi wasn't sure if he was in heaven or hell. Feeling the familiar coil yet again, Kakashi quickly hauled Lina's mouth away from his lower half, bringing her up into a kiss as he dove his fingers into her instead. Swallowing her scream, Kakashi flipped them over, driving his fingers into her as his kissed her deeply. She didn't need any preparation, already soaked, so he soon withdrew his hand, smirking in his head at her whimper. Positioning himself in front of her entrance, Kakashi licked his fingers clean of her fluids, watching Lina watch him, both of them smiling slightly. Finished cleaning his hands, Kakashi brought it down to the bed beside Lina's face, his other hand going under her neck to pull her head up into a kiss.

Breaking away, Lina brought her legs up to lightly press at Kakashi's hips, urging him to connect them. Taking the hint, Kakashi sheathed himself in her completely, both of them reaching for the other as they finally connected. Wrapping her arms around him, Lina craned her face up to kiss Kakashi's neck, whining, "Kakashi..." Smirking, Kakashi kissed her temple quickly before he began to move, digging himself deeper and deeper with each sharp thrust. Pulling him into her even more, Lina mewled as she quickly drew near to a release.

"Kakashi, I'm almost-I'm-ah!" Lina's eyes flew wide open as she felt Kakashi adjust his angle, hitting her differently from before. Reaching up, she carded her fingers through his hair, clutching at his back with her other hand and whimpering.

"I'm almost there. Come with me, Lina." Kakashi panted harshly, his voice only serving to draw her closer. Feeling him throbbing inside of her, Lina bent her head down, resting her forehead against his collarbone, just feeling him and waiting for the inevitable climax. Finally reaching his peak, Kakashi screwed his eyes shut, groaning incoherently as he shuddered his release. Feeling Kakashi slow just as she was on the verge of release only to finally surrender herself as she felt him throb his climax into her, Lina muffled her own cries in his chest.

Collapsing on top of her as he completed, Kakashi looked down at Lina, feeling her breath on his chest. Opening her eyes to look up at Kakashi, Lina watched him look down at her and smile goofily. Smiling back at him, Lina loosened her grip on his hair and softly massaged his head, knowing that she had probably pulled a little too hard. Watching him close his eyes in comfort, Lina softly rolled him off of her, removing him from inside her in the process, and straddled him, still massaged his scalp. Kissing him softly, she asked, "Feel good?"

"Feels great." Kakashi responded heavily. Now that he was drained of most of his strength, he could lay back and relax into the sensation of her soothing the pain that he hadn't even registered until just now. Placing his arms around her waist, softly caressing her sides as he closed his eyes to the feeling. Every now and then he felt her kiss him softly, and soon he began to drop off, his hands slowing down and growing heavy on top of her. Lina, not halting her movements at all, looked down to see Kakashi begin to doze, and she smiled. After a few more minutes of soothing, Lina gradually began to slow down her hands, not wanting Kakashi to wake from the lack of movement. Finally stopping, she slowly reached behind her to take his hands off of her individually and put them to his side. Gently climbing off of him, Lina quickly pulled on her clothes and covered him up with the covers, flipping them over so that they would cover him since he was already laying on top of half of them to begin with. Just as she was finishing up, she felt Kakashi stir and watched him open his eye and reach out to her.

"Where are you going?"

Lina was suddenly reminded of their first night together. Smiling, she said, "Sleep. I'll be right back." When Kakashi's eye didn't close, she rolled her eyes and placed a hand over his eye, saying more sternly, "Sleep." Watching him smile before relaxing, Lina took her hand off and walked into the kitchen.

Taking out a scroll, she undid the summoning jutsu, taking out a new outfit. Taking out another scroll, she walked into the bathroom and undid the jutsu, setting up her bathroom supplies. _'Might as well do it since I'm already here.'_ She turned on the shower and climbed in, closing her eyes under the spray as she washed and revitalized. Stepping out of the shower when she was done, Lina quickly towel-dried her hair, peeking into her room. Seeing Kakashi asleep, Lina smiled and paused, trying memorize his face in her mind before she gently shook him awake.

"Mm? Wha's goin' on?" Kakashi asked sleepily, reaching out to feel Lina's chakra before he relaxed. Opening his eye sleepily, he saw Lina smile down at him.

"Hi. I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to get food, since the fridge and cupboards are empty. What do you want?" Lina's heart melted at his sleepy voice, his beautiful 'just woke up' face not helping at all.

"Mm, you choose. Anything not fried or sweet." Kakashi mumbled. He felt Lina give him a soft, lingering kiss, and say, "Got it."

Pulling away, Lina watched him fall asleep again, and she smiled, just realizing that her sheets would be smelling of him tonight, regardless of whether he came home with her after the club or not. Before walking out of her apartment, she placed a simple barrier jutsu that could only be released from the inside or by her own hand, before she locked her door. She had a feeling that Gai might try to come in and discuss his party plans with her.

XXX

"Lina nee-chan!" Hinata waved daintily over at Lina, her face brightening up at the familiar face. The bluenette hadn't seen her adoptive older sister in a few days, considering she'd been placed on a separate mission, so she was glad that she was back. Smiling, Lina walked over to her and gave her a hug, looking her up and down.

"Hey, Hina. I love that dress on you. Very cute. Where is everybody?" Lina asked, nodding over at Shino. She was dressed in capris again, white this time, and a lace-embroidered peach colored one-sleeved shirt that had ruffles on the upper hem. Hinata, was dressed in a medium-length purple spaghetti strapped peasant dress and a light lavender cardigan over it, the purple complimenting her blue-toned hair beautifully.

"Right behind you." Lina turned to see the rest of the boys and girls come up behind her, talking. Smiling at everyone, Lina noticed Neji's expression change as his gaze landed on Hinata's dress. Apparently, he didn't approve of her dressing so, casually, if his pursed lips were any indication. He himself was of course dressed in his usual robe/Hyuuga traditional attire. Seeing Ino, Lina quickly asked, "Hey Ino. I heard what happened to your family's compound. Are you alright?" She watched the blonde nod and smile a bit tightly.

"I'm fine. No one was home, so that's fine. But-" Ino's eyes fired up as her voice rose. "They burned down my room! All my clothes were in there!" Lina raised an eyebrow and smiled as Sakura punched her in the arm. "Ino! Be grateful that it was only your clothes!"

"Yeah, yeah, Sakura-Forehead. But seriously, all of my clothes, gone!" Ino whined, rubbing her arm as she glared at Sakura. Grinning, Lina asked, "So where are you living now?" Ino turned to her and said, "We're living in a guest wing of the compound." Lina nodded, remembering that the Yamanakas were a large clan, like the Sasakis used to be.

"You know, Lina, you really should stop hanging out with people half your age. And people call me the pervert." Lina turned to see Genma coming up to her, Raidou beside him. Smiling at Raidou, she rolled her eyes at Genma and said, "Yes, well, at least I'm not _sleeping_ with the boys I hang out with, unlike you and those girls."

"Hey! I don't hang out with them." Genma grinned lopsidedly, still ignoring the younger group.

"No, you're right. You just pick them up with some line and fuck them before dumping them and finding someone new." Lina retorted, sticking out her tongue. She watched Genma grin at her, noticing Kakashi coming up behind him with two drinks.

"Maa, if only you were my type, I love smart mouths." Lina's eyes widened as her gaze slid sideways slightly to meet Kakashi's who was currently burning a hole in Genma's unknowing skull. Grinning, Lina said, "Well then, it's a good thing I'm not your type, ne? Because you definitely aren't mine." She nodded to Kakashi over Genma's shoulder and watched him squeeze between him and Raidou, coming to sit down beside her with two drinks in his hand.

"Hi." Lina smiled, watching him settle beside her. Kakashi handed her a drink and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Hi." They smiled at each other, her having forgotten where they were, him partially doing it for show.

"Oh. My. God." Lina turned to the group, blushing as she remembered where she was, noticing everyone except Lee, Neji, Tenten, and Raidou staring at them. Looking at Ino, who had been the one to speak, Lina said, "Umm...yeah. You guys should probably sit down." Watching in amusement as everyone stumbled into their seats, Genma no longer trying to find girls to pick up, Aoba's jaw slackened, and Gai looking like he was just barely holding in the proclamation of youth and love and hipness that everyone knew would be coming.

"Isn't it wonderful? Oh, how youthful of the two of you, so passionate with love! Look, such a wondrous couple, don't you think, Gai-sensei?" Lee asked loudly. It didn't help that the noise around them had slowly stopped as other shinobi began to notice that _the_ Hatake Kakashi had his arm around...who was that, tiny, nothing-special girl there? Women pouted, pointing out the pair to their friends, men nudging each other as they realized that it meant that there was one less person to compete against for the time being. Meanwhile, Lina was busy explaining the situation to the group.

"So, um...where to start. Well, I suppose you already know _what_ this is, and that's really all you need to know, so yeah." Lina said lamely, blushing at the attention.

"Kakashi? Have you hit yourself on the head or something? Did that mission you went on somehow mess you up? What do you see in her? I mean, I thought you and I had the same tastes, but wow, man. This is some serious 180 you're pulling. She's the complete opposite of what you normally want." Genma spoke up, scrutinizing Kakashi, completely ignoring Lina, not seeing her face and body stiffen. But Kakashi felt it.

Running his fingers up and down her arm softly, Kakashi said, "Genma, it's none of your business. I'm happy, that's all that matters. I chose Lina. Well, more like she chose me, but still."

"You chose her? She chose you? Well of course she chose you, you're Hatake Kakashi! Most of the women in the 5 nations would choose you!" Genma was still completely ignoring Lina, and he was seriously concerned about his friend. He had no problems with the girl, personally. It's just that she wasn't his usual type. And it wasn't as if she was only slightly off the mark. No, in fact, she was so off the mark that she was on the complete other end of the spectrum. What the hell?

Meanwhile, Lina was sitting, staring at her drink in her hands, her smile long since disappeared. She felt Kakashi run his fingers down her arm, trying to soothe her, but it wasn't helping. Of course, hearing him say those words was wonderful, but hearing Genma say what he did was bringing back feelings that she really didn't want to feel right now. In fact, she just wanted to get away from here. But just as she was about to get up and leave, she heard Tenten speak out.

"Genma-san, what exactly is wrong with my nee-chan?" Tenten's voice, hard and sharp as a brand new kunai edge, pierced through the now-silent club, except for the music that was still playing. Lina looked up at saw Tenten glaring at the man, her hands balled into fists at her side as Neji's hand restrained her by her shoulder.

"There's nothing _wrong_ with her. She's just completely different from who Kakashi normally fucks. You know that."

"Enough. We're not fucking." Kakashi's voice, while soft, carried. As soon as he'd said it, Lina heard a collective sigh of relief from all the women in the club, save the ones in her group. "She's my girlfriend." She heard a collective gasp and whispers coming from all around.

"Did he say 'girlfriend'?"

"Kakashi? _The_ Kakashi?"

"Damn, and I thought maybe_ I'd_ be the one to tame him."

"But what doe he see in her? She looks nothing special to me."

"Maybe he likes that. He's always been a little off."

"Or maybe Genma was right, he really _did_ get injured on his mission?"

"Oh my Gods, what if he's being manipulated by her?"

"Girlfriend?" Genma asked, his eyebrows raised. He watched Kakashi nod, his gaze hard. "Yeah, she's my girlfriend. So watch your mouth."

"He's right, Genma. You've judged Lina based on appearance alone. Have you ever even had a conversation with her? I have, and she is much more than she looks." Raidou spoke up, uncomfortable with the tension but defending Lina nonetheless. He was glad that Kakashi had spoken up, but he'd also noticed Lina's face. This was one reason why he'd warned her about Kakashi when she'd told him at lunch the other day.

Hinata looked over at Lina, also noticing her facial expressions tighten, and she surreptitiously reached over to hold her hand, grateful that they were sitting beside each other. Squeezing it gently, Hinata silently comforted her. She too knew the feeling of being underestimated and having her feelings trampled on. But her nee-chan was strong, much stronger than she was. And she had Kakashi-sensei beside her, if his arm over her shoulder was any indication.

Lina felt Hinata's hand hold hers, and she relaxed slightly. Taking in a deep breath, she looked up and said, "It's alright guys. Genma's right. Kakashi and I are completely opposite ends of the spectrum. No-" She turned to Kakashi, who seemed as if he was going to say something. "It's true, we are. The thing is though, Genma," She turned back to face Genma square on, raising her voice to normal level so that everyone, including the ones listening, could hear. "I don't care. Like he said, I chose him, and he chose me. All that should matter to you, as our friends, is that we're happy." Looking at Genma, she waited for his response.

Looking at her, Genma sighed and shrugged. "Whatever. You're right, I shouldn't care. I'm just surprised, that's all. If you're happy, Kakashi, knowing that you'll only be sleeping with one girl, then that's fine with me."

Lina's eyes widened and she burst out laughing. "Oh Genma, I'm more than enough to challenge him in the bedroom. Isn't that right?" She turned to look at Kakashi, a sincerely bright smile on her face. Kakashi's hard gaze softened as he looked down at her, and he smirked. "Well, we haven't gone very far in the 'challenging' department, but yeah, you can definitely keep up." Gasping, Lina giggled, nudging him lightly as she shook her head, feeling him chuckle beside her.

The mood gradually lifted as Lina laughed, Tenten, Raidou, and Hinata relaxing as they watched her. Naruto, shocked, asked, "So...you two have, um...kissed and stuff?" He blushed, thinking about him and Sakura holding hands and kissing. He didn't quite understand what they'd meant about sleeping with each other. Why did that need keeping up? Didn't they just sleep like normal people? Or maybe Kakashi was a rough sleeper, and liked to move. Hmm, he certainly didn't remember anything like that when they'd bunked together on missions.

Lina looked over at him, surprised. She'd said that she could keep up with him in bed, but Naruto was asking about kissing? Turning to him, she said, "Yes, Naruto, Kakashi and I have kissed. I mean, if we've slept with each other, and we're a couple, that's sort of normal...right?"

"No, not really. I mean, Sakura-chan and Sai and I have slept with each other, and _we've_ never kissed." Naruto said naively.

"Naruto you idiot! She doesn't mean that kind of sleeping!" Sakura punched the top of his head, blushing madly as the group laughed, Ino being the loudest. Naruto emerged from under the table, a large bump on his head, and whined, "Sakura-chan, that hurt!"

"Naruto, I believe what Lina-san meant was that they are having sexual inter-OW!"

"Shut up, Sai! God, I'm surrounded by idiots!" Sakura fumed, glaring at her two teammates.

Lina snorted, still laughing over his mistake and said, "Maa, maa. Sakura-chan, don't hit the poor boys for not knowing any better." She looked up at Kakashi and teasingly said, "Aren't you supposed to be their sensei? You must be doing a terrible job if he doesn't even know what 'sleeping together' means. I mean come on, you're the Konoha pervert, for heavens sake!" She watched Kakashi shake his head.

"It not my responsibility to teach them that sort of thing. I think it's Iruka's."

"It's my what?" Iruka walked into the groups vicinity, nodding a hello at all of the Konoha Eleven.

"Oh, Iruka-san. Erm, we were just talking about something."

"Ne, Iruka-sensei! What does 'sleeping together' mean?" Naruto burst out, causing Iruka to choke on his newly ordered drink.

"N-Naruto-baka! You don't ask these sorts of questions in public!" Iruka's voice rang out after much coughing, and the 'adults' of the group tittered, wondering how he'd deal with this one.

"Maa, Iruka-sensei. We're all friends here, it's fine to give us a demonstration of your teaching abilities." Kakashi chuckled darkly, teasing the poor chuunin. Lina nudged him a little harder this time, chiding him with an astonished "Kakashi!". Iruka's eyes flitted between them, taking in their relaxed appearance around each other, and his arm around her shoulder. Raising an eyebrow at them, he shot a glare at Kakashi, just knowing that he'd done something to make Naruto ask such an..._intimate_ question.

"Naruto, you took the sex education class in the Academy. Surely SOMETHING went in that brain of yours." Iruka attempted. Naruto frowned, thinking. Finally, he shook his head. "I didn't pay much attention to that class. It was so boring without Sakura-chan there." He grinned over at his crush who promptly beat his face to a pulp, blushing madly.

"Well, it looks like you're losing your touch, Iruka-sensei. Let me show you how it's done. Naruto, when two people want to feel really good toge-oof!" Kakashi started, only to stop with a groan as Lina elbowed him hard in the gut this time, finally getting the message across.

"Kakashi, enough! I don't think Naruto needs to know _your_ definition of what sleeping together means." Lina said giggling. Seeing Kakashi in actual pain, Lina softly ran her hand where she'd elbowed him repeatedly, softly saying, "Sorry about that, by the way." By now the club was somewhat back to normal sound volume, since many of the girls were mere admirers of Kakashi. However, Lina did catch a few dirty looks over Kakashi's shoulders as she soothed him.

"Thank you, Lina-san. Naruto, I'll give you the notes of the lecture that I will be giving the students this year, so drop by my apartment tomorrow, alright?" Iruka said. Naruto whined, "No more reading! Can't you just tell me now?"

"No, Naruto. Like I said, this isn't something you discuss in public. Unlike _some_ people." Iruka shot another glare at Kakashi, who simply gave him an eye-crinkled smile.

"Oh, how youthful! We really must celebrate the union of my two longest friends! To Kakashi and Lina!" Gai proclaimed, picking up his drink and holding it high. Lina's eyebrows shot up and she quickly said, "Gai! Kakashi and I aren't married, we're just together!" She glanced up at Kakashi, who was currently shaking his head in dismay, but they shared a small moment, smiling at each other.

"Ew, okay, enough. Time for me to cut in." Anko's voice boomed from out of nowhere, and the curvaceous woman plunked herself down between Genma and Aoba, grinning and licking her lips at Naruto, who shuddered for some reason.

"Mitarashi-san! I didn't know you were coming." Lina said, surprised.

"But of course! I never miss a drink. And stop calling me Mitarashi-san. It's Anko. But never-mind that, what do we have here?" Anko wiggled her eyebrows, grinning shamelessly at Kakashi and Lina, her hand still on his side and his arm of course still around her.

"Isn't it wonderful? This, my dear Anko, is called the springtime of youth! Ah, but Kakashi has once again beaten me to the punch, as he's managed to capture such a beautiful flower-" Gai found his face shoved into a drink by Anko, who turned to Lina and said, "Noisy, ain't he?"

Lina gaped at Gai, but grinned. "Anko-san, you are too much."

"I told you to call me Anko. Take out the -san." Anko downed her drink, waving a the waiter for another. Lina nodded but turned to Kakashi, feeling him nudge her arm slightly.

"You alright?" Kakashi bent his head down to her level and asked just loud enough for her to hear. Lina looked up at him, smiling softly, and nodded. "I'm good." She watched Kakashi nod and pull back again.

XXX

"Well, I'm heading home. Let's go Gai. Honestly, a 30 year old grown-ass man drinking this much is ridiculous. Bye everyone!" Aoba said, carrying Gai once again, since (as he'd told Lina earlier in the night) they lived next door to each other, which meant he lived near Lina as well now.

Waving each other off, everyone dispersed, Lina and Kakashi walking side by side, a little ways away from the jounin headed in the same direction. Neither was too tipsy, and by the subtle grazes of their arms, they could tell that they wanted to hurry home soon. Smiling, Lina softly said, not looking away from the road in front of them, "That was surprisingly easy." She didn't mention Genma's little outburst, and Kakashi remained silent about it as well, simply smiling and saying, "Yeah, it was."

Lina reached to hold his hand, hers tiny within his, and she smiled as she felt him intertwine their fingers together. Not talking, they walked back to their apartment, waving goodbye at Aoba and an unconscious Gai, who were further up ahead, before they slipped inside Lina's apartment. Closing the door, Lina felt Kakashi wrap his arms around her, his head bending to breathe in her smell. Closing her eyes, Lina smiled and turned around, her arms coming up to rest on Kakashi's upper arms. Leaning on the door, Lina looked up at Kakashi, smiling, and reached up again to slowly pull his mask down, and his hitai ate off. Seeing his full face, Lina breathed in deeply. _'Damn. Gets me every time.'_

Kakashi watched her eyes drift down and around his face, and he began to walk backwards, kicking his shoes off and pulling her further into her apartment. Following him, Lina kicked off her own shoes, grabbing him as she stumbled, eyes fixed on his . They made their way to her room quickly, not bothering to shut the door, and Kakashi pulled her into a deep kiss. Pulling away, he walked backwards, using his other senses to see through the darkness and find the bed easily, avoiding her belongings that had been unpacked after they'd eaten dinner. But just as they reached the side of her bed, Lina turned on the lamp beside her bed, casting a small circle of light around the room. Coming back to him, Lina pushed him onto the bed, climbing on top to kiss him deeply, her hands cupping his face. Kakashi ran his hands down her body, coming up to take out her hair bun. Nibbling at her lower lip, Kakashi softly said, "Shake out your hair." Lina pulled back, surprised, and smiled. Shaking her head, Lina felt her hair uncurl, and she bent her head down, enshrouding them both in darkness. "Better?"

"Oh yeah." Kakashi smirked, his hand coming up to bring her down into another kiss. He felt her hands disappear, and pulled away to watch her take her shirt off. Smirking, Kakashi sat up, bringing her up with him, and took his own shirt off, mask and all, and resumed nibbling at her neck, biting softly. Lina hummed, her eyes closed as she stretched her neck out for him, before she bent her head to do the same for him. Feeling his breath and tongue on her ear, Lina ran her hands down and tugged on his waistband, unbuttoning his pants and pulling down the zipper. She heard and felt Kakashi chuckle, the sound running right through her body.

"Impatient much?"

Lina pulled away to look down at him, smiling softly. "No, I just really want you naked in my bed." Giggling, Lina squealed as Kakashi flipped them over. Reaching behind her, he quickly undid her bra, a strapless white one bordered by green and peach flowers. Immediately, Lina moved her hands to cover herself up, knowing that he'd want to look at her. Kakashi looked down at her, and shook his head, amused. Kissing the upper part of her chest, Kakashi slowly made his way down, smiling slightly as Lina slowly let her arms fall, hands clenching as she tried to not feel so nervous. Kissing his way down even further, he quickly reached her pants, and pulled them off of her, her panties coming off in the same movement. Pausing, Kakashi kissed her inner thighs softly, remembering how she'd tickled and tormented him before. Licking his way diagonally up her panty line, Kakashi pressed his hands down on her legs to stop her movements, nibbling lightly on her skin, loving how she squirmed. Teasing her relentlessly, Kakashi felt her thrash under him, and he quickly stopped. Moving upwards, he kissed her softly, making a small noise of surprise as he found himself being rolled over.

Rolling Kakashi over, Lina lifted herself up to glare at Kakashi for torturing her. Kissing her way down, Lina briefly sucked on a part of his abdominal muscles, reveling in how they tensed up. Making her way lower, she dipped her hands into Kakashi's still-open pants, slowly pulling them down, instead of ripping them off of him as he had done to hers. Dropping them to the side, she kissed her way up his inner thigh, moving the midnight-blue boxers upwards as she moved up herself. As she found the cloth begin to bunch, Lina lifted herself up to look at Kakashi for a moment, smiling slightly as she saw him panting slightly. Bending back down, she dipped her tongue between his leg and his boxers, digging it into the space as she reached for more skin. Feeling Kakashi jolt, Lina kept her hands on his legs, keeping them open and anchored to the bed as she tormented him. Finished toying with that particular thigh, Lina reached up with her hands to grab each side of his boxers, bringing them down slowly, kissing Kakashi's other thigh from top to bottom as she lowered herself down.

Finally freeing him of all clothes, Lina crawled up and placed her hands on either side of his shoulders, lifting herself up to look at him. Noticing him do the same to her, Lina quickly rolled off of him, grabbing a random cover corner and dragging it across her body to cover herself. Kakashi felt and watched Lina roll off of him, hiding herself (again!), and he promptly pounced on her, grabbing her hands.

"Oh no you don't. We've been through this, I want to see you ." Kakashi waited patiently, tugging at her hands slightly, waiting for her to loosen up.

Lina shook her head, her mind blanking as she tensed up. "Kakashi…"

Remembering Lina's small confession before about being in henge, Kakashi watched her, not doing anything, and softly said again, "Let me see you." Lina caught the underlying tone, him asking her to show him her, not some creation or illusion. Taking in a deep breath, she tried to squash down her nervousness, closing her eyes briefly. Opening her eyes to stare back up at him, Lina slowly loosened her grip, darting her eyes away as she finally let her hands slip to her sides. Feeling him begin sliding the covers off of her, she instinctively brought her arms up to cover her breasts again, eyes wary. Shaking his head, Kakashi bent down to kiss her forearms, gently prying them away from her chest. Lina took her newly freed hands and flung her forearms across her eyes, embarrassed and getting more scared by the second. This was the first time she would be out-rightly showing her body to anyone. Of course, she knew that Kakashi would've seen her before today, given their time together. But this time, instead of having his attention diverted through sensations as per usual, he was actually looking at her, concentrating his full, undivided attention on taking in her body. And that was terrifying.

As she felt him remove the covers from her, baring her completely, and then nothing at all as (she assumed) he examined her, thousands of thoughts and insecurities fluttered through her mind, her heart sinking. What if he was laughing at her silently? What if he'd found some horrible mark or deformity on her body, something she'd never even known she had? She always tried very hard to not look too carefully at her own body, her eyes skimming over her skin as she bathed, for fear that she would find that something that had made those men reject her all those years ago. She didn't _think_ she had any gigantic scars or anything, but if it wasn't that, then it had to be that her body was just 'average'. Nothing extraordinary, just extra-ordinary. She didn't know which was worse. And knowing Kakashi had bedded lots of women, all of them the complete opposite of her, she felt like her worst insecurities about herself were about to come to light as true.

Watching her cover her eyes as he tugged down the covers, Kakashi was confused. After all the times they'd been together in the last week, showered together, felt each other, held each other, shouldn't she be getting _more_ comfortable with him? And then there was earlier today. Hadn't they gotten closer? Hadn't they shared a moment? So why did he feel like they were taking two steps backwards? As he thought, he stilled, completely disregarding the fact that time was passing by (much like he normally did when reading Icha Icha). It wasn't until Lina stirred that he realized he'd completely ignored her.

Lina lay still, her heart growing heavier by the second as she didn't feel the bed move at all, and after what felt like an eternity, she cracked. Sliding her forearms off of her eyes, she sat up, avoiding Kakashi's gaze, his whole body, even. Getting off of the bed, Lina picked up her clothes, thankful that they were merely on the floor and not flung across the room, putting them on. Her body had long since stopped heating up, and now all she wanted was to be alone, away from him, so she could feel disgusted at herself yet again. Walking to the door, Lina remembered what Genma had said earlier at the club, the looks and whispers from all those girls. She stilled as she felt Kakashi's arms move around her, him apparently using his super-speed to come behind her.

"Where are you going?" Kakashi asked, confused. One second she was on the bed, naked and everything his body told him he wanted, and the next she was dressed and walking to the door. Why?

Lina shook herself out of Kakashi's grasp and said in a low voice, "I'm done. It's too much. I know I'm not perfect, or pretty by any standards, but this is just too much. I knew this wouldn't work out. We're too different. Please, leave." She felt a lump in her throat as she said the words, but she kept her voice steady, and picked up her pack that contained her scrolls, walking out of the bedroom.

"What?" Kakashi asked softly, his brain not allowing him to understand. He watched Lina walk out of the bedroom and out of sight as he stood still. His brain whirred through what had just happened._ 'I watched her cover her eyes as I took off the covers. I looked down at her. And then she got up and left. Oh.' _

"Shit."

Walking quickly out of the bedroom, not caring that he was still naked, Kakashi found Lina in the kitchen, undoing the summoning seals on her belongings. Walking up behind her, he wrapped his arms around her tightly, leaning his body against her so that she had no way of escaping. He held on tight as he felt her struggle, dipping his face into her hair that he liked so much.

"Stop it Kakashi. I asked you to leave." Lina struggled against him, trying to free herself. She was holding herself together by a single thread, feeling like she would tear apart any moment now. But she didn't want Kakashi to see her like this. It was humiliating enough that she'd actually bared herself like that only to be completely rejected, it would only make things worse if he saw her all teary-eyed and desperate-looking.

"No Lina, listen to me. You misunderstood. I wasn't rejecting you or anything like that. I was thinking." Kakashi spoke softly against her head, willing her to listen to him. He too remembered what Genma had said, and despite having thought that she was over it, he now knew that she wasn't. He felt her stop moving, but he continued to hold her tightly, in case she fought him again.

"Thinking?" Lina whispered, fighting a war within herself of whether to hope or not. She felt Kakashi nod, his grip still suffocatingly tight around her. She waited for him to continue speaking.

"I was thinking, about our time together. I was trying to figure out why you're so self-conscious even though you also have such fiery moments. I was thinking so much that, I guess I just lost track of time, and forgot that you were still there." Kakashi, unsure of how to act in this situation, having never dealt with these sorts of issues before, simply verbalized his thoughts, hoping she would understand his meaning through them. She'd displayed a knack for that before.

"You were thinking...about us." Lina said slowly, the words sounding foreign in her head, ridiculous. She vaguely felt him nuzzle her head, breathing in deeply, as she processed this.

"Yes." Kakashi waited.

Lina began to calm down, and just as she was about to turn around to face him again, she remembered. Regardless of what he'd been thinking of, the fact that they were completely different was true. _'Average.'_ her mind had sneered over and over again into her ears as she'd walked out of the bedroom, and it now returned, laughing at her idiocy for thinking it was possible that she could be more, Genma's and all those people in the club's voices meshing in with it. How could she even think that they could be anything at all? Absurd.

Shaking her head, Lina said, "Let me go, Kakashi. Even if you weren't thinking of it, that doesn't make it any less true. You and I are completely different. We're-"

"No, Lina! Stop trying to find ways to make us fall apart."

"But isn't it easier this way? You can go back to the way it was, being with women more suitable for you." Lina tried to reason with him.

"Lina, I get to choose who I want. I chose you, didn't I?"

"But Genma said-"

"Genma's a perverted asshole who sleeps with different women every night. Are you seriously taking his thoughts into consideration?" Kakashi said harshly, cursing Genma in his head.

"You used to be like that too, didn't you?" Lina said timidly, her heart slowly unclenching.

"A perverted asshole? Thanks." Kakashi muttered under his breath, looking down in surprise as he felt Lina laugh through her nose slightly. Lina smiled at Kakashi's words but sobered up quickly. It was true that they were completely different, like Beauty and the Beast. Except without the happy ending. This was reality, after all. Shaking her head once more, Lina said, "He's right. Those people at the club too. We're too different. It won't work."

Kakashi stared down at her, processing what she was saying. As he did, he felt his walls being built up again, and he slowly released her. Pulling away, he said quietly, "I get it." Walking back to her room, Kakashi numbly put his clothes on and body flicker-ed out of her apartment into his own.

Feeling him teleport away, Lina slowly sank into a chair, crossing her arms on the table and placing her forehead on them as she cried soundlessly. _'Why did I let him in? Why, __**why**__? Stupid, stupid. __**Never**__ feel anything for someone you sleep with. You made that decision years ago, didn't you? Stupid, stupid, stupid!'_

-end

Author's note: Okay, so I'm going to start off with the end first, cuz that's obviously the most important. I was playing it out in my head and sort of acting it out as if I were the two of them, and I hope you felt the emotions I was feeling, because I'm emotionally drained right now. Special thank you to Anuxamurane for helping me out :D Gave me some great ideas as always!

Now, I know I could've left it at them leaving the club together after telling everyone, but I felt like this scene deserved to be in the chapter. Especially when the next one will be crazy sad too.

And yes, I know I made Genma crazy-mean, but I'll let him redeem himself a little later from now.

So, I crammed lots and lots of love in this one from beginning to nearly the end, leaving you with a bit of angst at the end. Don't expect too much love next chapter, it's going to be painful. Oh, and it's going to be a short one for sure.

Ja ne!


	23. Chapter 23

**Something I wanted to mention, just cuz it's somewhat relevant to the story: right after the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime, the Pain arc starts. Now, I personally want to develop more of the Lina/Kakashi/rest of the gang's relationships, so I'm stretching the time frame just a bit. Pain invasion won't come for a few chapters.**

As always, please review, comment, write something! I'm dying to know what you guys think. Ja ne! ;)

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. I do, however, own any original ideas or characters (such as Sasaki Lina) that I have created.

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Sasaki Lina is 29. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: **the Pain arc is still going to happen, I'm making Sasuke come back too, but Shinobi Alliance arc is still going to happen, as well as anything that didn't directly involve him in the anime/manga.** I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?)

_**PLEASE REVIEW! COMMENT, ANYTHING! THANKS :D**_

_*****This chappie's shorter, but still got drama in it. I hope you like it!*****_

_**Chapter 23**_

The next morning, Lina woke up on the couch to the sound of her alarm clock blaring at 5 am. Groaning, she got up to get dressed for training with Kakashi, only to remember what had happened the previous night. Stopping in her tracks, Lina closed her eyes as her heart clenched. Now she remembered why she was on the couch instead of in bed. She hadn't felt up to stripping the bed and putting on new sheets and pillows, and she had started crying just by standing at the entrance, her sensitive nose picking up on his scent, _their_ scent. And so she'd camped out on the sofa, crying herself to sleep.

As Lina remembered, she closed her eyes for a moment, tears beginning to sting them. Taking in a deep shuddering breath, Lina quickly formed a summoning jutsu.

*poof*

"Daisuke at your-Lina why are you crying?" Lina looked down at her companion, eyes wet but face dry and said, "I'm not crying. Anyway, I need you to send a message over to Kakashi for me."

"What happened, Lina?" Daisuke looked up at her, worried, smelling the salty tears in her eyes, just on the verge of falling. He'd thought that she could finally be together with her human mate. What happened?

"Daisuke, please." Lina closed her eyes, willing herself some self control. The ninken looked up at her and said, "Fine. But when I get back, we're going to talk." Lina, not replying, simply said, "Tell Kakashi that I'm not coming for training today."

Daisuke was surprised. "And why don't you tell him yourself?" Immediately, he saw the tears begin to dribble down her face, and he softly said, "What did he do, Lina-chan?" Inwardly, he was growling at the bastard for making his human cry like that. Lina was his partner in this world, and he'd watched over her for years. Who was Kakashi to spend one week with her, and make her cry like this?

Sniffling, Lina dropped to her knees in front of Daisuke, pleading, "Please, Dai-chan, just do it." Daisuke ignored the suffix, looking at her, and silently walked to the door. Now that he got a look at it, her living space was different. Taking one last look at her, Daisuke opened the door with his paw and walked out, immediately sniffing out Kakashi's apartment. Padding to the door, Daisuke let out a low growl, knowing that Kakashi would hear him. Sure enough, Kakashi opened the door, surprised to see Daisuke.

"Daisuke-sama, what are you doing here?" Daisuke could see that Kakashi wasn't doing any better than Lina, his clothes and overall appearance much sloppier than...well than the two times Daisuke had seen him. Granted, the latter time he'd seen her, the human had been naked, but still.

"Can I come in?"

"Of course." Kakashi stepped aside to let the ninken in. He too had had an awful night, berating and condemning himself. For a genius, he sure knew how to mess things up between him and Lina. Leaving her apartment, Kakashi had gone into his own, the barriers built inside himself unable to shield him from his own tormenting voice. He'd tossed and turned for hours, unable to fall asleep, eventually drifting off.

"Lina says that she's not coming to training." Kakashi's thoughts snapped back to the present as he heard Daisuke speak. Looking at the ninken, Kakashi nodded numbly. Daisuke regarded the human, waiting to hear what had happened, but Kakashi remained silent. Sighing, Daisuke gave him one last glance before he turned back to the door, saying, "Maybe this is for the best." He padded away, not seeing Kakashi's pained expression watching him.

Walking back to Lina's apartment, Daisuke used his paw to open the door, padding in. He saw her sitting on the couch, face in her hands, and he softly closed the door, walking up and curling on the couch beside her. Nuzzling his nose into her thigh like he'd always done since she was a little girl, Daisuke allowed her to collapse into his fur, his body shaking with her sobs. As she cried, Daisuke felt Kakashi's presence outside of her door. Knowing he could hear her, Daisuke sent out his own chakra, warning him not to come in. Kakashi's presence slowly walked away, and Daisuke turned his attention back to his summoner.

Nuzzling her face, Daisuke asked, "What happened?" He felt Lina shake her head, still crying, her voice just barely coherent.

"We-we-we're too diff-diff-differ-*gasp*-ent." Lina choked out, unable to say more. Daisuke looked at her and sighed. He knew this was going to happen. Yes, they were different. But they were also the same. They both wanted each other back. He personally didn't care one way or the other about Kakashi, but Lina was his summoner. No, Lina was his partner. They shared a bond that only ninken and their summoners could understand, and even then, theirs ran deeper than most. As much as he didn't want to meddle, he didn't want her to suffer either.

Pulling away, Daisuke said gently, "People are different. There's no two that are the same. And what's that saying you humans have? Opposites attract? Don't let your differences stop you, Lina-chan. You lost Souta-"

"Stop, Dai-chan. Just...stop." Lina, finally slowing down her tears, began wiping them away. She didn't want to hear this right now. It was too soon. And what did losing Souta have anything to do with this?

"Lina-chan. Don't lose yourself again." Daisuke said, not giving up just yet. He watched Lina slump in herself and he sighed, reaching up to nuzzle her face with his snout before he left. There was nothing he could do now. She had to either get over it or move on, but she had to do it herself.

XXX

Several days went by. Kakashi, not hearing from Lina, assumed that she wouldn't train with him for the time being, which was fine. He'd heard her crying, his heart tightening, and he'd been about to open the door to try and talk to her, but he'd felt Daisuke's protective chakra reach out and stop him. But as the days went by, Kakashi realized that no matter what he did or said, it couldn't, it _wouldn't_ change anything if Lina didn't find it in herself to try and make them work. No matter how much he missed her warmth, how much his muscles ached at the inability to reach out and feel her body against his in the morning, none of it mattered if Lina didn't come to him. He had no idea when she'd wormed her way into his life, how she'd done it so quickly, but now that she was gone, he wanted her back.

At first, he'd been furious at Genma, and the people at the club, sure that they'd been the cause of her insecurities. But as he thought about it, he remembered that she'd always been like that. Sure, she had a fiery personality at times, easily smiling and laughing, but she also had problems, like most shinobi. And really, how much did he know about her? She had siblings, she was friends with Hinata and Tenten, she had a ninken, and that was pretty much it. Kakashi tried to use his lack of knowledge about her as reasoning for why they wouldn't have worked out anyway, pushing down his feelings. As the days went by, Kakashi slowly began to numb himself, and accept that they were done. He hadn't seen her since, both of them apparently doing all they could to avoid each other. It was painful, but he supposed that it was time to move on. _'Another failed relationship.' _If you could call it that.

Lina had left her apartment for the first time the day after Daisuke had been summoned, and she began pouring her energy into training. Since Lee had given her his dojo, and she hadn't used it in a while, Lina went to the secluded area to practice. Training to get her mind off of him, while effective in theory, only served to remind her of their short time together. Every kunai she threw, every kick her used against the dummies, only brought back memories of Kakashi teaching her. That first day out of her apartment, Lina had broken down into loud tears after only an hour of practice, sinking to the ground as she remembered. Why, why did she let herself get into something again? She thought she'd learned her lesson with Souta, and then with those men who'd rejected her. Apparently she was wrong. She had been comforted by the thought that Kakashi hadn't been scrutinizing her, but the memories of what Genma and all those girls had said and whispered, it was just too overwhelming.

The next day, and then the days after that, Lina slowly began boxing away her feelings, focusing purely on training. She began to meet up with her team again. Of course, they'd all noticed the change in her, each of them remembering the club. The first time Kiba had asked Lina if she and Kakashi were alright, they'd watched her expression harden. After that, the three had kept quiet, watching her slowly become numb, driven only by her training. Hinata, in an effort to reach out to her, had attempted to try and talk to her 'as girls', but Lina had shaken her head, silencing the bluenette. Shino, of course, said nothing, simply shaking his head.

As the days passed, Hinata began to worry more and more about Lina. Her nee-chan was no longer the happy, friendly, smiling woman she'd been. Hinata had noticed in the moments before Genma had spoken, and after things had become less tense in the club, how carefree and happy Lina was with Kakashi. She was relaxed, laughing more. It was scary that she could change so quickly. Hinata wanted to help her nee-chan, but with no information, only that it had to do with Kakashi, she turned to her girls, starting with Tenten, seeing as she knew Lina just as well as she did. Hearing Lina's mood-swing, Tenten had instantly understood. This was why she hadn't wanted to entrust her nee-chan to Kakashi. He was something of a celebrity in the village, of course she would feel intimidated. But, as she explained to Hinata, surely that wasn't the only issue? Sasaki Lina was no pushover. There had to be more to the story.

And so, three days after Lina and Kakashi fell apart, she found herself tugged away from training by Tenten and Hinata.

"Come, Lina nee-chan. We need to talk." Tenten pulled the older woman away, Hinata walking beside them.

"Tenten, I'm really busy. I need to get ready for the jounin exa-"

"Nee-chan, please. We just want to talk to you. You've been acting differently lately." Hinata put in. Lina refused to look at them as they stopped walking and sat down in a patch of secluded training ground.

"Lina nee-chan. Hinata's been telling me that you've been acting differently ever since the club. And, you haven't come out with us in the last few days, and you're just...you're not yourself. What happened?"

"...Nothing."

"Nee-chan, we just want to make sure you're alright. Was it what Genma-san said?" Hinata asked, remembering. Lina stiffened slightly, her eyes narrowing. Hinata and Tenten exchanged glances. Tenten turned back to Lina and said, "There's more, isn't there? You can tell us, nee-chan. Did Kakashi say or do something?"

Lina shook her head slowly. No, he hadn't done anything. Well, _yes_, he had, but in the end, after he'd explained himself, it wasn't the only reason. But Lina didn't want to explain. Getting up quickly, Lina said, "I don't really want to talk about it. Thank you girls, but this is between me and him." She walked away, ignoring their calls out to her, and slowly headed home.

Tenten, after calling out to Lina several times, sighed, shaking her head. "What do we do, Hinata? We can't just leave her like this. Maybe we should talk to Kakashi-sensei."

"Tenten-chan, I don't think that's a good idea. Like she said, it's between her and him. It's not really our place to interfere." Hinata said timidly. She didn't want to meddle in case things got worse, but she felt so helpless not doing anything.

"But we can't just leave her like this!" Tenten exclaimed again, exasperated.

"What if we take her out? We'll go to a more quiet bar, get her mind off of him." Hinata suggested, and Tenten brightened up.

"Good idea! But we need to make sure he's not there too, so we need a back up plan in case he is."

"Ramen? She loves it." _'Just like Naruto-kun.'_

"Food? No, by the time we go to the club, it'll be too late and she'll probably have eaten already. No, how about we just make the back up plan a sleepover? Just you, me, and her."

"Alright." Hinata brightened up a little, glad that they had a plan. Hopefully, Lina nee-chan would talk to them…

XXX

*Loud knocks in quick succession*

"Lina nee-chaaaan! We're here to take you out!" Tenten pounded on Lina's door loudly, having found her apartment address after asking several people. She and Hinata were dressed to go out, and were executing their plan 'Make Lina Forget!' They stood outside her door, and waited for Lina to open it for them.

Lina opened the door, surprised to see Tenten and Hinata. Seeing their attire, she immediately shook her head. "No, guys. Thank you, but I don't feel like going out."

"Lina nee-chan, you need to get out of the house and do something other than train. How else are you going to forget about whatever it is that happened between you and Kakashi?" Tenten said bluntly, her hands on her hips, watching Lina's body slump.

"Nee-chan, I-I really think it's a good idea for you to come out with us." Hinata said softly.

Lina shook her head once more and tried to close the door on them, but Tenten stuck her foot between the frame and the door, creating a space. "Nee-chan, Kakashi-sensei's not going to be there, we'll make sure of it. So come on."

Lina's heart squeezed each time they said his name. "How? How are you going to make sure he isn't there?"

"We're not going to the club. We're going to a quiet bar a couple of blocks away. It's quiet, but it's not weird. Okay?" Tenten said authoritatively. She watched Lina breathe in deeply and squeeze her eyes. "Fine. I could use the alcohol." Tenten and Hinata smiled at each other and walked in to Lina's apartment, her opening the door for them.

XXX

Walking into the bar, Lina found herself liking the quiet atmosphere. Sliding into a booth, She watched Tenten place drinks on the table, and she grabbed one, downing it quickly. Signalling the waitress to keep them coming to her, Lina stared into her empty glass, sighing.

"Lina nee-chan, you're really worrying us." She looked up to see Tenten and Hinata watching her closely. Sighing again, Lina said, "I don't want to talk about it. I'm serious."

"But-" Hinata started.

"No. This...this is my problem. And as grateful as I am for you guys concerning yourself over me, I don't want to talk. I came here to forget. And you said that we're come here to forget. So can we just do that?" Lina said, getting irritated. It hurt so much just to think about how stupid she had been to trust again. She didn't want to think about it anymore. She just wanted a blank mind.

The night slowly wore on, the two girls drinking and making sure Lina didn't drink too much. Several hours in, just as Lina was starting to get slightly tipsy, the bar entrance door slammed open.

"It's an emergency! Some buildings are being burned down by black flames!" A random civilian man yelled out. Immediately, Lina sobered up. Black flames. Hazily, she remembered something about black flames. Where, where…?

"Oh my God. That's like with Ino's compound!" Tenten exclaimed, and Lina jumped up. _That's_ where she remembered it from. Kakashi and the jounin had been talking in Kurenai's apartment. Black flames...people! Running out, Hinata and Tenten following her, Lina glanced around, looking for smoke. Spotting it tens of blocks away, she realized that it was the same direction as the Sasaki clan's compound, and also close to her new apartment. Eyes wide with fear, she ran towards it, yelling out, "Tenten, Hina, come on! It's near my old compound!" She ran through the emerging crowd, taking to the roofs as the street became too busy.

Kakashi was out for a walk, trying to clear his head, when he smelled some smoke. Turning his head, he saw smoke rising near his apartment. Just as he was about to rush towards it, he felt Lina's chakra coming right at him. Turning his head, he caught a whiff of her scent as he saw a blur pass him before darting onto the roof. Seeing Tenten and Hinata following closely, Kakashi ran beside them and asked, "What's going on?"

"The fire. Black flames. Near the Sasaki compound." Tenten said shortly, angry at Kakashi for hurting her adoptive older sister, but knowing that he was an excellent shinobi, and may very well be needed. She felt Kakashi speed up, running right behind Lina, and she sighed before shaking her head and concentrating on her feet. No time to worry about relationship-drama. Not when lives could be at stake. But what could cause black flames?

Following Lina, Kakashi's mind flew back to the conversation he'd had with the other jounin in Kurenai's apartment. They'd all agreed that the black flames were Amaterasu, what else could it be? But, aside from Sasuke, there were no more Uchiha members. So, either Sasuke was back in the village causing this mayhem, or someone else had a Sharingan eye, similar to Kakashi's. But, if they did, they had to be exceedingly sophisticated in it's usage, considering even Kakashi couldn't use Amaterasu, and he'd had it for years. As he thought, he arrived at the scene closely behind Lina. He watched her slow down, and he could feel the shock in her.

Lina arrived at the scene, not thinking about anything other than her family. Sure enough, the smoke was coming from the Sasaki Main compound, where her family lived. Skidding to a stop, Lina gaped at the destruction. Black flames soared into the sky, spreading across the grass and coming out of the compound, slowly creeping out onto the street. All of the sudden, she felt a hand jerk her backwards, and an earth wall formed in front of her. Whirling around, she saw Kakashi, hands still in seal form, his Sharingan exposed. Not even thinking about why he was here, or what had happened between them, Lina stared at him, shocked, before she whirled around and stammered out, "M-my m-my my fam-family...They, they could still-they could still be inside!"

She felt Kakashi shake his head. "You can't touch the flames. They're not like normal ones that can be put out with water. They won't disappear until they've destroyed everything, and not even after that." Lina gaped at him before her mind snapped.

Running up the wall with her chakra infused feet, Lina stood at the top of wall, watching in horror as the flames lapped at the bottom of the wall. She vaguely noticed that Kakashi had formed the wall on all sides of the horrible black fire, containing it to only the main compound. She felt Kakashi run up and stand beside her, his hand securely on her arm, as if to restrain her. Standing, Lina choked out a cry. " 'Tsumi...Kei...tou-chan...kaa-chan...obaa-chan...e veryone…" She began shaking. "Dead...I'm all alone...all alone…" She began gasping for air, coughing and choking as she breathed in smoke. Feeling Kakashi wrap his arm around her waist, Lina didn't care anymore.

Beginning to hyperventilate, Lina heard a shrill voice from down below. "Nee-chan!" Whirling around, she searched the crowd for the owner of the voice, her eyes falling on her sister Katsumi and Kei, both staring up at her with fearful eyes. Focusing her eyes, making absolutely sure that she wasn't hallucinating, Lina stopped breathing. Staring at them, she let out a strangled cry and ran down the wall to grab both of them in her arms.

"Oh my God, you two are okay! Oh thank the gods, thank you, thank you! What happened? Where are okaa-san, otou-san, and obaa-san?"

"Nee-chan, what's going on? Why are there walls around the compound and smoke coming out?" Kei asked, scared that his eldest sister was clutching him and his second-eldest sister so tightly. He watched her pull back and stare at them. "Black flames, just like with the Yamanakas. Where are our parents and obaa-san? Why aren't they with you?"

"Nee-chan…they're...they're inside. We went out to the convenience store together. We were only gone a half hour." Katsumi spoke softly, her voice laced with tortured fear. Looking at each other, they all ran back up the wall, staring down at the flames that were slowly beginning to crawl upwards.

"Otou-san! Okaa-san! Obaa-san!" They all cried out, searching desperately. Lina once again felt Kakashi's presence beside her, but she simply kept calling.

All of the sudden, Lina's super-sensitive hearing heard screams. Her eyes wide, she heard them fast approach them, coming from within the compound. Bursting out of the compound, three figures stumbled out, arms and bodies flailing.

"Ahhhhh!" The combined voices screamed, and the Sasaki siblings instantly recognized their parents and grandmother. Staring down at the horrible sight of their parents screaming as black flames burned their bodies, the siblings screamed, clutching each other, and Lina also clutching Kakashi. Tears streaming down their faces, they fought to remain standing, desperately wanting to go to their family. After a moment, they saw their grandmother fall and stop moving, dead. Sobbing, they screamed apologies and 'I love you's at their parents, saying everything before it was too late. Through the din, Lina's hearing picked up her mother's voice speaking softly and she hushed her siblings.

"O-okaa-san is s-saying something. Listen." Lina muffled her sobs as she watched her father fall as well, but it was her mother's final words to them that broke her down completely.

"I love you all so much." Sasaki Kiyoko whispered her last words to her children, on her knees, too weak to scream anymore, before she lost consciousness, dying.

Feeling Katsumi and Kei break down into tears as they bid farewell to their parents and grandparents, walking down the wall clutching each other, Lina stood, staring unseeingly at her home, destroyed. She didn't feel Kakashi's arms turn her around, didn't see his worried face come into view as he tried to look at her, didn't hear his voice as he gently told her that they had to go before the flames came up the wall. Or maybe she did hear him, because she obscurely wondered what would happen after the flames ate the walls, and if they would spread to the rest of the village. Numbly walking down the wall, Kakashi's arm draped over her shoulder, Lina didn't feel anything. Reaching the bottom, Lina detachedly took two steps forward, her body telling her that it was time to go home, before her vision blackened. Vaguely, she heard someone, her sister maybe, cry out her name. Nothing after.

Katsumi, seeing her sister faint, rushed towards her, wanting to catch her before she fell. But before she got there, she watched Kakashi use his fabled speed to catch Lina, lifting her up in his arms, cradling her. Gulping in some air, Katsumi said, "Thank you, Kakashi-san. I can take her now."

"No. I'll do it." Kei said, rubbing his hands on his face. Walking forwards, he looked at his idol, arms ready to take his eldest sister from him, but Kakashi shook his head.

"I've got her. It's fine. Come, I'll take you to her apartment. She'll want you to stay with her." Now that she was in his arms again, even if it was because of something as horrible as this, Kakashi didn't want to let her go to anyone. His skin sung as he held her, feeling their instant connection again, and he had to remind himself that they weren't 'they' anymore. As he held her, he could feel that her weight was lighter than usual, and her face and body looked a little thinner. Sighing, he turned and saw Tenten and Hinata standing nearby, unsure of whether they should intrude on the family or not, but worried for their adoptive older sister.

Walking to them, Kakashi said carefully, his years as a shinobi and a leader coming into play, "I'm taking her and her siblings back to her apartment. Tenten, go to Tsunade-sama, tell her what happened, and tell her that the Sasaki clan elder and heads are dead. Hinata, go find Sakura and bring her to Lina's apartment. I'm assuming you know where it is? The new one, not the one with Kurenai." Kakashi watched them nod and rush off, and he turned back to the two younger Sasaki siblings. Walking to them, he said quietly, "Follow me."

They ran quickly through the crowd, the traffic splitting off into sides as they saw them coming. Thankfully, the compound was close to Lina and Kakashi's apartments, and they soon arrived. Unlocking her door without a key, Kakashi ushered the still trembling siblings into their eldest sister's apartment. Pain rippled through his heart as he walked to her bedroom, remembering their first and only time together there. Laying her gently on the bed, covering her with a blanket, Kakashi noticed that while she'd removed his smell from the bedroom entirely, she hadn't bothered to clean up after herself. Clothes, scrolls, papers, were laying scattered on the bed and floor, some having dislodged from their place on the bed and sliding onto the floor as he moved the blanket. He remembered being in her old bedroom, and how neat it had been. Knowing that the new-found messiness must be from their break off, Kakashi had to once again remind himself that despite his lack of regard for her as he'd been thinking that night (as stupid as it was), it ultimately had been her who had torn them apart. She had her own problems to deal with.

Katsumi watched Kakashi care for her elder sister. She'd heard many things about this man, but caring was not one of the words people used to describe him. Not that they said he was selfish or anything like that. But definitely not caring. But as she watched him put her to bed and then slowly pick up her things littered on the floor (when had she become so messy?) Katsumi couldn't help but think that maybe something more was going on between them. Glancing at Kei, both their tears having dried as they ran to Lina's new apartment, she noticed that he was also looking at his idol differently. Turning back to Kakashi, Katsumi took in a deep breath and said, "Thank you, for caring for her, but as her siblings, we can take over now. You can feel free to go home, it's pretty late."

Kakashi looked back at her and shook his head. "I'm staying until Sakura gets here and tells me that she's fine." No question, no hesitation. Just quiet authority. Katsumi smiled minutely. _ 'This is the Hatake Kakashi I've heard so much about.' _She nodded and said, "As you wish. I'm going to make some food for when she comes to. Kei, come." Her arm around her brother, Katsumi steered him into the living room, feeling him still shivering. She softly pressed down on his shoulders, getting him to sit on the couch. She made her way to the kitchen, opening cupboards and the fridge, surprised to find almost nothing inside any of them. If Lina had been living here for several days, nearly a week, surely she'd gone grocery shopping! And then Katsumi remembered the mess in Lina's bedroom. The only time she didn't do her chores was when something terrible happened. When her teammates and then Souta had died, Lina had reverted into herself, living like a homeless person as she didn't bathe, barely ate, didn't pick up after herself, and dressed in the same clothes for weeks on end.

Thinking back to how Lina had felt hugging her, Katsumi realized that, while she didn't look it, Lina as thinner. And not in a healthy way. It wasn't by much, but she still noticed. Frowning, Katsumi walked back to the living room and told Kei quietly, "I'm going to go buy some food. Want to come?" Immediately after speaking, her eyes filled with tears. Those had been almost the exact words she'd said to him before they left the compound tonight. Looking up at her, Kei's eyes also filled, remembering. Shaking his head, he said, "I think I'll stay this time." Katsumi nodded and said, "Me too." Making a water clone, her tears falling as she remembered her father teaching her how, Katsumi sent it off to get food, sitting down and hugging Kei, both of them crying softly.

A short while later, a soft knock on the door brought the siblings' faces up from each other's shoulders, and Katsumi walked over to open it. Outside, stood Hinata and Sakura, Tsunade's apprentice. Stepping aside, Katsumi silently pointed out Lina's room, shaking her head at Hinata's questioning glance. No, Lina hadn't woken up yet. She watched them go into her room, and she made her way to the entrance, waiting for the verdict with Kei, who had also risen from the couch.

Sakura walked into Lina's bedroom, immediately seeing Kakashi sitting on the bed stroking Lina's hair softly. Making a small noise, Sakura said, "Kakashi-sensei, I'll have a look at her now." She watched Kakashi shift slightly, not taking his visible eye off of Lina, and made room for her to work, his hand coming down to hold Lina's. Glancing at him, Sakura noticed there was something more in his eye, more than worry. Pain. Glancing over her shoulder at Hinata, she remembered the bluenette letting slip the fact that Lina and Kakashi had had some issues. But by the looks of it, her sensei really cared for the woman on the bed. Sighing, she performed the seals for a probing jutsu, her chakra lighting green, and she placed it over Lina's head before moving it down her body to probe internally for any injuries. Finding none, Sakura went back to Lina's head, weakening her chakra control microscopically to only check for fatigue and malnutrition.

Finishing up, Sakura sighed, putting her hands down, and turned to see everyone waiting for her. Directing her attention to Lina's siblings, Sakura said, "She's fine. Exhausted, and mild malnutrition, but she'll be fine. Her brain tried to shield itself from the shock, and it made her faint. She should wake up in a couple of hours, or maybe she'll sleep right through the night, considering how late it is. Make sure she eats when she wakes, but nothing heavy." Getting up, Sakura walked out of the room, the siblings making way. Exiting, she turned back to see Kakashi taking her place, his hand once again reaching to stroke Lina's hair. Turning back, Sakura mused over what it was that they had fallen apart over. Because whatever it was, it didn't matter. Not if it made Kakashi act like that. In all her years of being Kakashi's student, teammate, and subordinate, she'd never seen him act that way. The closest she'd come to seeing him exhibit that amount of emotion was that first day, when he'd talked to the original Team Seven in front of the KIA stone.

Kakashi felt Sakura leave, Katsumi and Kei coming in to touch their sister softly before they too went away, probably to the living room. He knew he should leave, knew that she'd told him to leave that night, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. She was lying here, defenseless, mind shattered as she lost her family. Kakashi knew the feeling well, well, at least half of it. He couldn't remember his mother, only having a picture of her given to him by his father, but he remembered his father perfectly. He remembered looking up to him so much, so proud to be told that he looked just like him, and then feeling ashamed of him after 'the incident', and then finally finding him dead, suicide. He remembered how conceited he'd been as a young boy, thinking he was above everyone else because he was deemed a 'genius', only to be taught how wrong he was when he made jounin and Obito had been killed. He'd built up walls from a young age, and like Lina, Obito and Rin had somehow wormed their way into his life, and when they had died, he'd been devastated, closing himself off and living off of the adrenaline of fighting. He didn't want Lina to suffer through that. Sure, she had siblings, and they cared for her, which was more than he could say about his own situation, but he still felt the need to make sure she would pull through, even if she pushed him away afterwards.

Kakashi didn't know how long he sat on her bed, watching her sleep. He vaguely felt her sister and brother come in and sit with her, offering him the couch, which he refused silently, before they left to rest. After what felt like only a few minutes, but judging from the time had been several hours, Kakashi felt his visible eye begin to droop. As he began nodding off, he briefly wondered how she would react to him staying beside her. _'Only been with her for a week, and already she's got me watching her sleep like some sappy romance novel's hero.' _Walking out of the bedroom, Kakashi nodded at Kei, who he saw was sitting on the couch, holding a sleeping Katsumi, before he went into the kitchen. Picking up a chair from the table, Kakashi walked back to Lina's bed, placing it beside her and sitting down. He crossed his arms and closed his eyes, slowly falling asleep, his senses still aware as he used his shinobi training to watch over her.

Hearing Kakashi leave his sister's room, Kei turned his head and smiled tightly, nodding as he watched Kakashi walk towards the kitchen. He saw his idol pick up a chair, and, craning his neck, watched him settle down beside Lina's bed. Mouthing a 'thank you' as Kakashi walked by, Kei settled back to sleep for a little while. He was now the man of the house. He had to take care of his two older sisters, make sure nothing ever happened to them. It was time to grow up.

XXX

The next morning, Lina awoke in her bed, disoriented. She felt like she'd been hit on the head with a large stick, and she'd had a horrible nightmare about black flames, and screaming, and...oh. It hadn't been a nightmare, it had actually happened. Looking at her clothes, Lina saw the smoke and soot marks from the black flames. Fresh tears springing to her eyes, Lina ripped the covers off o f her and was about to run out of her room, intent on finding her siblings. How she got home didn't matter. She just wanted to hug them close, now the only two members of her family that were left. It wasn't until she'd lifted her head off of herself that she noticed Kakashi's slumped sleeping form on a chair beside her.

Unsure of how to respond to his presence, or why he was even here, Lina gently placed a hand on his thigh, applying just enough pressure to wake him up. Kakashi felt a hand on his leg, and his visible eye flew open to see a very haunted-looking Lina staring at him, her hair a mess. Smiling, Kakashi was forcibly reminded of what had happened, their separation, her clan's compound burning down by what was obviously Amaterasu, and her fainting. His smile, while covered by his mask, must have shown through, because Lina too smiled for a short while, before her eyes clouded over, remembering. Hastily retrieving her hand, Lina clutched her head as a strong wave of pain went through it, and she said, "Why are you here, Kakashi? How did I get back? My siblings, where are they?"

She felt Kakashi reach out to touch her forehead, stiffening. She didn't pull away though, his cool hand soothing against her too-hot skin. Watching him, Lina met his gaze, noticing that he had minor bags under his eyes. Or, one bag, considering his other eye was covered. Feeling him pull back slowly, she quickly broke their eye contact, looking around. She didn't remember cleaning up, yet all of her scrolls and clothes were folded neatly and stacked on the chestnut drawer on the wall directed in front of her bed. Turning back, Lina frowned. "Kakashi, you haven't answered my question."

Kakashi watched her speak, but said nothing. He wanted to stay with her, alone, for just a little while longer. But as he heard her ask again, her voice laced with worry, Kakashi sighed. "What do you remember?"

Lina looked back at him. "The fire. Tenten, Hina, and I were out, and we heard something about a fire. We ran to the smoke, and…my family's main compound. My parents, my grandmother…" Lina's hands clenched as her heart radiated hurt. "Dead." She brought her knees to her chest, her hands circling them as she bent her head down, willing herself not to cry. "Where are my siblings, Kakashi?"

"We're right here, Nee-san." Kei called from the doorway. Looking up, Lina's face tightened, and she waved him and her sister, who was standing behind him, over to the bed. Patting the bed, Lina watched them crawl to her, and the three siblings wrapped each other into a group hug, fresh tears coming to the youngers' eyes as they realized that they only had each other now. Lina patted their heads, unable to cry as she swallowed the lump in her throat. She was the eldest. She had to become strong. There were no side branches, no unknown relatives. Just them three. And she was in charge. If they'd let her be.

Lifting her head to see Kakashi having vacated his seat, and now stood at the doorway, Lina said, "Thank you, Kakashi, for staying with me. I'm fine now." She watched something go through his eye, too far away for her to understand clearly, before he nodded and walked away, his chakra leaving the apartment. Turning back to her siblings, Lina said softly, "Kei, Tsumi, I need to talk to you. Sit up for me." She watched her siblings slowly dry their tears and sit up beside her. Reaching to grab both of their hands, Lina said, "I still carry the Sasaki name, even though I abandoned all of you so many years ago. But, I want a chance to make things right. Would you let me...be your sister again? Will you let me lead the Sasaki family?" She finally began to tear up, staring into her siblings' eyes.

"Lead? But...I'm the male." Kei said softly, not wanting to press too strongly. He watched Katsumi shake her head. "Kei, you're far too young to lead anyone. And, okaa-sa-...okaa-san and o-otou-san...they only ever gave leadership and clan history lessons to nee-san, so I can't either. Nee-san's the only one who can do it." Lina watched them talk, and she waited.

"Nee-chan, of course we'll let you come back. You're our sister. No matter what happened in the past, you're family. And yes, you can lead us." Katsumi said softly, Kei nodding. Nodding, Lina sniffed and squeezed her siblings hands, smiling tightly. Leading the clan, even with only the three of them left, was a big step. She would end up being one of the elders of the clan, should she live that long.

"It's just us three now, but we'll make it work somehow." The two younger siblings nodded, leaning in to rest their heads on her shoulders, and she encircled them in her arms, her heart tightening as she remembered how their mother had done the same thing for all of them when they'd been sad. By the looks of it, her siblings remembered too, but the three remaining Sasaki clan members stayed in place, holding onto each other.

XXX

"By the way, why was Kakashi here?" Lina asked tightly, now all of them in the kitchen. She'd sent off a clone to get groceries, another one getting Ichiraku Ramen take out. Leaning on a counter as her siblings sat at the table, they waited for their food to come. She'd already been scolded heavily for not having any food in the house, which was why she'd sent a second clone out to get some after she'd made the first get the take out.

Katsumi looked at her sister and said carefully, "He caught you when you fainted, and carried you back. He stayed all night beside you." She watched her sister's expression, noting that there was pain foremost in her eyes. Standing up to walk to her, Katsumi said, "Is something going on with you two? I've never seen him act like that with anyone."

Lina shook her head. "It's nothing."

Katsumi sighed and placed a hand on her sister's upper arm. "Nee-san, the last time you were this messy and out of sorts, Hanaki-nee and Aoi-nee had died. You were a lot worse with Sou-"

"Stop, Katsumi. Stop." Lina said, shaking her sister's hand off of her arm. Thinking about Souta just reminded her even more about why she and Kakashi weren't capable of working things out.

"Nee-san, I don't know what's wrong, but you can't just sink into yourself like always. Whatever happened, Kakashi-san...he actually cares. I've never seen him look like that, so worried, with anyone, comrade or not."

"Tsumi-nee is right. I've never seen Kakashi-san like that. What happened?" Kei spoke quietly. Lina noticed that his voice was different. He no longer had the childish lilt, the carefree tone that he'd had as a child. He was...mature. At 16 years old. When had he grown up?

"We...we were together. For about a week. And now we're not." Lina said softly.

"A week? What happened? That's really quick. Was it Kakashi? Did he break it off? Because if he did I'm gonna-"

"No, Tsumi. He...he didn't do anything. It was me."

"You...you broke it off?" Kei said incredulously. His sister…broke off a chance to be with _Hatake Kakashi_? Something had to be wrong. Coming up to her, Kei looked down at his eldest sister and asked, "What happened?"

Lina shook her head. "It's nothing. We're...we're not suitable for each other." She felt a lump in her throat again as she remembered telling everyone, seeing the strangers' faces turn to shock, and then, she heard Genma's comment again. Oh no, she was going to cry. _ 'No, no, no.'_

Turning quickly, Lina walked briskly to her room, closing the door and bursting into tears as she ran to the bed. Burying her face in the pillows, Lina cried and cried. For the humiliation and hurt she'd felt at the club, for the misunderstanding that night, for the loss of Kakashi, for the loss of a huge chunk of her family. But most of all, she cried, because she knew that he could heal her, as he'd done when she'd come back from that mission. She wanted him to hold her, to stroke her hair, to tell her in his beautiful, beautiful voice that it was going to be alright. That she wasn't alone. She wanted him to remind her that she had her siblings, that she had her friends, and that she had him.

But she _didn't_ have him. And no matter what she wanted, she still felt the pain of knowing how different they were. She still couldn't bring herself to be with him, knowing that after the shock, she'd be right back where she started. _They'd_ be right back where they started.

Crying, Lina felt her siblings come in, crawling on the bed to hold her, trying to comfort her. But it didn't help. Their hands weren't his, their voices, weren't his. And no matter how grateful she was that she had them with her, they weren't him. So she kept crying, until she'd cried herself dry, and her throat was raw and painful.

Finally stopping, Lina sat up again, her face swollen and red, eyes downcast. She felt their hands in hers, and heard Katsumi speak.

"Nee-san, please tell us what's going on. We're family, you can tell us anything." _'We're the only family each other's got left.'_

Lina shook her head. "Kakashi and I are just too different. He's, he's…and I'm…"

"Lina-nee, you've changed." Kei said suddenly. "Before you left, you were never scared of anything. You didn't back away, and you didn't care if things got tough. I don't know what happened to you in the 12 years you've been gone, but the Lina-nee that I remember wouldn't sit here crying over regret when she could do something about it."

"Kei! That's no way to talk to your older sister!" Katsumi admonished him. Lina had never responded well to tough love, one of the reasons why she and their mother butted heads so often. But Kei didn't know that, being too young to remember. Turning back to her sister, Katsumi said, "Nee-san, look at you. You've said that you two are too different, but who cares? Differences don't mean impossibility, right? And no matter what happened in the past, you shouldn't let it dictate what you do in the future. If being with Kakashi makes you happy, and by the looks of it, it does, then you should try, differences or not."

"But, but what if it's not enough?" Lina whispered, vocalizing one of her fears.

"Then you'll know that you tried. And that's better than asking 'what if', right?" Katsumi said softly. Lina slumped, her brain exhausted. Just as she was about to get up, they heard a knock on the door. Looking at each other, Lina slowly got up, quickening her pace as she felt a familiar chakra.

"Hokage-sama. Please, come in." Lina stepped aside to allow Tsunade and Shizune to come in.

"Lina, Katsumi, Kei. I am so sorry for your loss. How do you feel?" The older woman walked into the apartment, her eyes flickering between the siblings. Noticing Lina looking the worst of the three, Tsunade placed a gentle hand on the eldest Sasaki sibling's shoulder.

Lina motioned the Hokage to sit on the couch, nodding at Shizune. Just then, her clones came back with food and groceries, and she quickly motioned them to make tea. Sitting on the loveseat perpendicularly facing the Hokage and her apprentice, Lina motioned her siblings to sit on the armrests beside her. Returning her gaze back to the Hokage, Lina said, "What can we do for you, Hokage-sama?"

"I wanted to follow up on all of you. I heard from Tenten that you were there when your parents and grandmother died. Can you tell me everything you remember, from the beginning."

Lina nodded, and took in a deep breath, reaching out to grab her sibling's hands. "I was with Tenten and Hinata. We were out a bar, and someone came in and said the black fire was back. We ran outside and saw that the smoke was close to the Sasaki compound. When I got there, the fire was all over the main compound, but it hadn't spread to the guest house or the other auxiliary buildings. I was about to go and try and find everyone, because I didn't know...I didn't know where anyone else was. But Kakashi, who was there somehow, he pulled me away and created several Earth walls." Lina continued speaking, stopping and starting every now and then as she relived parts of the horrible night. Finally, she finished, and motioned for her siblings to tell their story.

Katsumi started. "We...we were out at the convenience store, getting food. I saw an old friend and, I...I...I made Kei stay with me while we caught up. By the time we left, there was a huge crowd in the street, and we could see the smoke. Halfway home, we saw walls go up, and then two people walking up the walls. I recognized nee-san, and Kakashi-san. When we realized…" Katsumi began to break down, her lower lip trembling, and she held onto Lina's hand, holding Kei's as well. "When we re-realized that they were still in there, we ran up the walls to see if we could find them, but there was only black. Finally, we saw them come out, but they were burning, and we couldn't do anything. And then we came here."

Tsunade watched the siblings, her heart hurting for them. Gently, she asked, "Who was the friend you met?"

Katsumi looked up at the Hokage, and asked questioningly, "What does that matter?"

"I need to know all the details you can remember. What was their name?"

"Daji-kun..ahh, I mean, Dajimu." Tsunade's brows raised for a microsecond as she recognized the name. Nodding, she said , "Alright. I'll let you all grieve now. I'm very sorry for your loss. Lina, being the eldest, I understand if you'd like to take some time off from missions. Just let me know."

Lina nodded, grateful. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

Nodding, Tsunade got up and left, Shizune trailing behind her. Sighing, Lina got up and sat on the couch, exhausted. The Hokage hadn't given them any new information, only more questions. And what was with the question about who Katsumi had met at the convenience store? There was no way that that was nothing, not if the Hokage's brows were raising like that.

Several moments after Tsunade and Shizune left, a sharp knock on the door revealed itself to be Gai.

"Oh, what a morose sight! Beautiful flower, Lina-chan, I heard about what happened. How are you and lovely Katsumi and youthful Kei doing in this hard time?"

"Gai, could you…could you please act normal? I...I'm too...I-I just can't deal, with your...well, with you, as you." Lina said softly. Seeing Gai was making her throat tighten yet again, as she was reminded that Kakashi wasn't here, just like her parents. She watched Gai stop and nod silently. Coming to sit with her, Gai said in a shockingly normal voice, "Alright."

Looking up at him, Lina's eyes watered as she scolded herself inwardly for only being able to think about Kakashi, despite her family being gone. Seeing her cry, Gai turned to Lina's siblings and said, "I'll look after her. Why don't you two go out for a bit?"

Kei looked uncertainly at his eldest sister. "But…" The last time they'd left someone they loved alone, the people had died. He watched Katsumi shake her head at him and pull him to the door. Turning back, Katsumi said, "We'll be back later, Gai nii-san." She still had memories of when Gai, Hanaki, and Aoi had dropped by the compound, picking Lina up to train or just hang out. It had been a long time, but she still called Gai 'nii-san'. Gai nodded remembering the name despite the time gap, and turned back to Lina, feeling her shake silently.

"Where's Kakashi? Why isn't he the one here with you? I doubt my eternal riv- I mean, Kakashi, would leave you like this if he knew how hurt you were."

Lina shook her head, crying harder, small whimpers coming out of her mouth. "W-w-we br-broke u-*gasp*-up." She felt Gai's arms come to hold her tentatively, softly, but too gently. As she cried, she heard a soft knock on the door, and choked out, "I-It-It's o-ho-h-open." She tried to stop her tears, only to look up and see Hinata and Tenten at the doorway. Seeing them, a fresh wave of tears coursed down her cheeks, and Lina cried out incoherently, reaching out for her friends.

"Nee-chan, we're so sorry." Tenten and Hinata ran over, sitting on the floor and beside her on the couch, respectively, both trying to calm her down, nodding a hello at Gai.

"Lina nee-chan, what can we do?" Hinata asked softly. Lina shook her head, stuttering. "The-the-there's no-*gasp*-no-*gasp*-nothing y-y-you ca-cahn do. I-I want my parents back, I-I just want to go ba-ack…"

"Nee-chan, what about Kakashi-sensei? Would it help if he were here? You two looked like you were really happy. I mean, I know you aren't together anymore, but maybe he could help…" Tenten trailed off, seeing Lina shake her head again. Yes, it would help, but ultimately, it would hurt more. So no, no matter how much she wanted him here, she couldn't ask that of him.

"You're not seeing my rival anymore? When did this happen?"

"A few days ago." Lina stuttered out.

"A few days…did this have anything to do with what Genma said at the club?" Gai asked, his eyes widening as he watched Lina bring her head and chest down to her lap, crying harder. He looked over at his student, and saw her nod and then shake her head.

"I-I-*Hic*-it's not just tha-tha-at. The-there-there's mo-moreh." Lina hiccoughed into her lap, feeling three sets of hands on her as she cried.

"Shh, nee-san. Whatever happened, whatever it is that's stopping you and Kakashi, you need to stop and think about if it's worth it. Look at yourself. You lost half of your family yesterday. And Hinata and I saw how much Kakashi worried about you. We bumped into Katsumi and Kei just now, they told us how he was here up until you woke up." Tenten tried to soothe her, stroking her leg.

"Sweet flower-I mean, Lina-chan, Tenten and Hinata-chan are right. The last time I heard of Kakashi being this caring, or saw him anywhere near as relaxed as he was with someone, it was with his last girlfriend. Years ago. And it took her three weeks to get even close to how you two are-were at the club. We know you're hurting, you've lost your family. And we can see that we're not helping. But, maybe, if you give Kakashi a chance, he can help you."

Hinata placed her hand on Lina's back and softly said, "Lina nee-san, do you remember the song you used to sing to me? Do you remember the lyrics?" Softly, she sang the song to her adoptive older sister, the song that got her through the rough times, when she was too scared to do anything.

_Where there is desire_

_There is gonna be a flame_

_Where there is a flame_

_Someone's bound to get burned_

_But just because it burns_

_Doesn't mean you're gonna die_

_You gotta get up and try and try and try_

_You gotta get up and try and try and try_

_You gotta get up and try and try and try_

Raising her head, Lina looked up at Hinata, smiling slightly. Hinata's sweet voice soothed her slightly, and she smiled at the memory of her singing to the younger girl when she'd babysat her. Now it was her turn to be soothed. "When did you guys get to be the grown ups?" She sniffled as the girls laughed together, turning their heads as Katsumi and Kei walked back in.

"Nee-chan, how are you feeling?" Katsumi walked over, Kei following close behind. Lina shook her head. As uplifting as this all was, she just couldn't go to him. She just...couldn't.

XXX

The next day, Lina set out to go to the library, looking for research that may help her find any way to eliminate the black flames. After her melt-down, Lina had discussed the flames with Gai, and he'd told her that it was Amaterasu, an Uchiha dojutsu technique. There was no way of eliminating it as far as he knew, but considering it wasn't his specialty, Lina decided to see for herself. Walking through the shelves of books, Lina picked out several that outlined some basic observations made of the technique, but they were of no help to her, considering how little detail there was. She knew that the Uchiha guarded their techniques with the utmost secrecy, so she wasn't too surprised, but she was disappointed. After searched for about an hour, she happened upon a book about sealing techniques. Flipping through, she found herself wondering if she could somehow seal the technique. By the looks of the book, it may be possible, but certain properties of the fire would need to be discovered before she could attempt even writing the sealing scroll.

Borrowing the book, Lina walked to the ruined Sasaki compound, stopping by several weapons stores on her way. If she wanted to find out everything she could about the fire, and there were no Uchihas left to help her, then she would need some fire to begin with. And to carry fire, she would need a fire-proof container. Of course, this was Amaterasu, the fires of hell, and not just any old fire. So, Lina walked between stores, comparing until she found a container that would hold it well.

Seeing the walls and smoke that still rose as the flames burned on, Lina felt her eyes prick again with tears. Breathing in deeply, Lina walked up to the walls, only to be stopped by several ANBU.

"This area is off limits to everyone."

Lina looked up at the ANBU and said, "I'm Sasaki Lina, and that's my ruined home. I'm doing research, and I need a portion of the flames to do it. Let me through, and I'll be out in 5 minutes tops."

"No. This area is off limits by order of the Hokage."

"Yeah? Well, this used to be my home. And the research I'm doing? Is trying to make sure that this can be prevented. Now let me through, or the next time this happens to someone else's family, it'll be on all of your heads that I couldn't do anything to help." Lina spoke evenly, her voice carrying all the weight it needed.

She waited for them to move, and after a moment of silence, they did, although she sensed that they were all scowling at her. Walking up the wall, Lina took in a sharp intake of breath as she saw her family's compound burned to ashes. She couldn't even tell what the garden used to look like anymore. Looking around, she covered her mouth with a muffled cry into her hands as she saw three sets of ashes next to each other. Closing her eyes, Lina took a deep breath before she slowly began walking down the inside of the wall, inching her way closer to the fire. She'd only taken one step down when she felt arms pull her up.

"Are you insane?!" Lina looked up to see Genma and Raidou pulling her up to the top of the wall, both staring at her, aghast. Shaking her hands out of their grasps, Lina said, "Hi to you too." She couldn't look at Genma, so she simply faced Raidou.

"Lina, we heard what happened. I'm so sorry, but what are you thinking?" Raidou admonished her.

"You're crazy, you know that?" Genma quipped and Lina's expression darkened.

"I'm trying to do research to create a sealing technique for-for next time." Lina said, her voice hard. She didn't want to talk to Genma, look at him, hear him, anything.

"Oh."

"Lina, are you alright?" Raidou saw her demeanor change when she spoke to Genma, and he could see that it wasn't just mourning.

Lina nodded tightly and walked carefully back down towards the flames. Inching as close as she could, she reached with a long piece of parchment to touch the flames. She'd brought several of them, in case the flames moved faster than she expected. Seeing the flames lick at the edge of the paper, Lina let it linger for a moment to catch before she dropped it in the fire-proof container she'd bought and walked up the wall again. Walking to the outer side of the wall, Lina jumped down, landing softly on her feet, and began walking towards the Hokage's office. She needed to ask her about their talk the day before. She was wondering about why Tsunade was so interested in the 'friend' that Katsumi had mentioned.

Ignoring Raidou and Genma, who eventually left her alone, with much tugging of Raidou's sleeve by the latter, Lina made her way to the Hokage's office. Knocking at the door, Lina entered the room, and bowed.

"Tsunade-sama."

"Lina. What brings you here?" Tsunade asked kindly, remembering seeing her and her siblings mourning just yesterday.

"Tsunade-sama, I was hoping you could tell me more about this Dajimu-kun? You seemed interested in him, and I'd like to know why." Lina didn't bother to mince her words, her voice cracking slightly as she controlled her anger at the thought that this may have been planned. Well, she already knew that it probably was, considering how unlikely a coincidence it would be that both her family and the Yamanakas had such similar accidents. Looking up at Tsunade, Lina set her face into a mask-like expression, waiting.

"Straight to the point I see."

"Hai."

Tsunade assessed the girl in front of her, seeing her stance stiff, her face, even stiffer. The older woman knew what it was like to lose someone, oh God, did she know, and she could see the same pain running through Lina's body as she stood tall, unnaturally so. Sighing, Tsunade took off her glasses and turned her chair towards the window behind her. Looking out onto the village she swore to protect in her Hokage inauguration, Tsunade thought of the recent events. Akatsuki was getting closer to Konoha day by day, she had less jounin to send out on high-ranked missions, making the village earn less money, and on top of that, she now had an internal crisis involving several clans. And that wasn't even including the fact that she may possibly have a coup d'état on her hands. Danzo had been in the shadow for years, that much she knew. But, if her guess was right, and after 50 years, she was rarely ever wrong, then he was about to start moving again. Maybe already had.

Sighing again, Tsunade turned back to Lina and motioned for her to follow her out of the office. Walking out of the Hokage main building, Lina followed Tsunade out onto the street. As they walked, Tsunade nodding and waving at the villagers who all stopped and bowed for her, Tsunade began to speak in a lowered voice. Without even looking around, she could sense that there were at least two people following her from several metres away. Whether they were following her, or the Sasaki eldest, was unknown, for now.

"Your family's fire incident, as well as the Yamanakas' were no accidents."

"I figured as much, Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade stopped walking at turned to face the younger woman. She wasn't about to say anything that may lead back to her, but she felt an obligation to warn the girl, and her family. "I will only say this. Be careful of Shimura Danzo. Ask Kakashi." Turning away, Tsunade strode back to her office, ignoring Lina's calls out to her. She glanced quickly around with her eyes, just in time to see one cloaked figure virtually melt into the wall of a nondescript shop.

"Tsunade-sama! What-…" _'What the hell is going on? Danzo? Where have I heard that name before?' _Suddenly, Lina remembered sitting in a tea shop with Kakashi, before they'd started going out. The old bandaged man? Why him? And why did she still feel that hint of recognition coming from him? Lina didn't know, but she had to find out. But that would mean talking to Kakashi, the one person she did not want but also most wanted to see.

- end

**Author's Note:** oooh, this was painful to write...how was it to read?

So, this chapter was very Lina-heavy, and I have to say, it wasn't nearly as good as the last one in my own opinion, but that's to be expected, when the last one was such a change from the happiness of the previous few chapters, and this one was...well, just more sadness.

Ooh the song Hinata sang to Lina (well, Lina originally sang it to Hinata first, but you know what I mean) is called Try by P!nk :D love the song, very motivational. It's most obviously about love, but if you dig a little deeper, the meaning can go to pretty much anything that requires hard work and perseverance :)

Next chapter's...well, you'll see ;) Please review, I miss your comments, people! Thank you for the reads, and the reviews, I really do appreciate them! I realize I haven't been saying that in the last few chapters, but it's always true :) Ja ne~!


	24. Chapter 24

**Something I wanted to mention, just cuz it's somewhat relevant to the story: right after the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime, the Pain arc starts. Now, I personally want to develop more of the Lina/Kakashi/rest of the gang's relationships, so I'm stretching the time frame just a bit. Pain invasion won't come for a few chapters.**

As always, please review, comment, write something! I'm dying to know what you guys think. Ja ne! ;)

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. I do, however, own any original ideas or characters (such as Sasaki Lina) that I have created.

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Sasaki Lina is 29. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: **the Pain arc is still going to happen, I'm making Sasuke come back too, but Shinobi Alliance arc is still going to happen, as well as anything that didn't directly involve him in the anime/manga.** I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?)

_*****So, this chapter turned out longer than I expected. Still not as long as the previous ones, but still pretty long. Mostly due to dialogue I think, but I hope you enjoy it all the same!*****_

_**PLEASE REVIEW! COMMENT, ANYTHING! THANKS :D**_

_**Chapter 24**_

"Danzo-sama." Fuu knelt in front of his leader, awaiting orders.

"How are the three holding up?"

"They are adjusting. The main person of interest is the eldest, who seems to have taken an interest in learning how to seal the flames. She has borrowed several books and scrolls pertaining to the origins and properties of the fire from the Shinobi Library and has-" Fuu stopped talking abruptly, seeing his leader raise his cane for silence.

"Any word on their chosen leader?"

"The eldest has been chosen, Danzo-sama."

"Hm. How typical. Continue monitoring the situation. Assess all three, regardless of their status in the clan. The device still works?"

"Yes, Danzo-sama, however, because she does not wear it when not on missions, it is of little use to us right now."

"That's fine. Just keep monitoring her with Torune. Soon, you will be called to complete the mission."

"Yes, Danzo-sama."

XXX

"Nee-chan….Nee-chan."

"Huh?" Lina looked up from her scrolls to see Kei looking at her from her bedroom entrance. Kei looked at his sister, seeing scrolls and books scattered on her bed.

"I said dinner was ready."

Lina looked back down at her scrolls, her eyes dazed, and she realized she'd stayed cooped up in her room for several hours, scanning the contents of her books and the scrolls she'd borrowed from the Shinobi Library. Looking back up, Lina smiled and got up. "Smells good, I'm starving."

Sitting on the table beside her two siblings, Lina watching Katsumi, who'd apparently cooked egg fried rice, dish out the food.

"Nee-chan, what are you looking at in there?" Kei asked, picking at his food. Lina looked up from her own plate and shook her head. "I'll tell you when I finish. I don't want to get your hopes up just yet. Well, maybe those aren't the right words. But, I'll tell you when I'm done." She watched Kei nod, and she continued eating.

"Nee-san, you're really quiet. Is there something on your mind?" Katsumi asked, watching her sister. She watched Lina's face pucker up slightly as she thought, before the older sister sighed. Of course, she was thinking about Kakashi.

After a week of not seeing him, Lina's heart, instead of slowly decreasing in pain, only constricted more tightly as she thought of him. She'd stared at the scrolls for hours, but in the end, all she wanted to do was run away from it all and go to Kakashi. But even as she thought it, she reprimanded herself for being so selfish. _She'd_ been the one to break it off, and now she expected him to just _wait_ for her? And even if he did, how could she expect him to just forget about her breaking them apart and come back to her like nothing had happened? But as she thought, she smiled tiredly at her siblings and shook her head.

"Nothi-"

"Nee-san, it's not nothing if it makes you crazy." Katsumi said quietly, making her brother and older sister stare at her. She'd sounded just like their dearly departed mother.

Lina looked back down at her plate and said quietly, "It's nothing." She heard her siblings sigh, but she ignored them and ate slowly. She had a lot to think about.

XXX

A few days went by, and Lina wondered if she'd ever see Kakashi again. They'd avoided all contact at first, but now, she found herself secretly hoping she'd run into him. Maybe he was right, she really was a sadist. Well, more of a masochist, considering she loved torturing herself with 'what if's late at night. But it took more several days before Lina finally bumped into him.

She was walking back to her apartment from the library, her arms full of books, having just climbed up the three flights of stairs, and she felt as if she was on the verge of discovering how to finally seal the damned Amaterasu flames. Her mind racing over the information she'd skimmed through in the books she'd borrowed, Lina loudly bumped into what seemed like hard wall with legs. Dropping her books unceremoniously, Lina muttered a soft, "Oof" and immediately apologized.

"I am so sorry! Ugh, I'm such a klutz."

"No, it's my fault…" A familiar baritone voice said above her head, and Lina looked up to see Kakashi staring down at her. Her breath catching in her chest, Lina's heart nearly stopped. After a beat of silence, she hastily bent down to pick up the books, noting that he was doing the same.

"I'm sorry." Lina murmured, grabbing the books. Straightening back up, she looked up to see something in Kakashi's eye, his posture, everything was different, off. Furrowing her brows, she asked softly, "What's wrong?"

Kakashi looked down at the girl, not wanting to blink for fear that she was just a figment of his imagination. But there she was, picking up her books, taking some out of his hands and brushing fingertips against his, and now, asking him a question. Shaking himself out of his gaze, Kakashi asked, "What?"

Lina looked up at Kakashi, her eyes searching his 1/4 visible face, and said, "You look like there's something off. What happened?"

_'You mean besides the fact that this is the first time I'm seeing you in what feels like ages?' _Kakashi sighed, remembering the news he'd heard earlier today. "Jiraiya-sama is dead." He watched Lina's face change to shock and horror before it reverted to quiet understanding, mirroring his own reactions exactly.

Hearing Kakashi tell her that Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin, was dead, was a hard blow for her, and she briefly wondered how many more were going to die in this apparent streak of death. Breathing in deeply, Lina said quietly, "I'm sorry." She didn't quite know why she was apologizing. Well partly because of Jiraiya's death, it seemed to hit Kakashi pretty hard. And also, a small part of the apology was for how she'd acted that night. Looking at Kakashi, she wondered if he knew why she was apologizing, and silently gave thanks for her hands being full. If they weren't, she'd probably be hugging him right now, and that wasn't right.

Looking down at her books, Lina said softly, "I'd better go. Sorry for bumping into you." She felt Kakashi about to say something, but quickly slipped past him and towards her apartment, closing the door behind her.

XXX

"Yo. Boss." Pakkun and the rest of the ninken popped into Kakashi's apartment, immediately aware of his emotions as soon as they arrived. They'd taken to visiting him every night to comfort him after they'd caught him staring into space with an almost broken expression about a week ago. Seeing him hunched over on his couch now, the pack gathered around him, laying next to and around him for comfort. As Kakashi looked at them through his fingers, he said in a low voice, "Jiraiya-sama is dead. Killed by Akatsuki."

He heard his pack whine and growl at the loss, knowing that their human leader had admired him greatly. But they could all see that something else was off. Even with this death, Kakashi was especially depressed.

Nudging his nose against Kakashi's leg, Bisuke looked up at the human and said, "There's more." It wasn't a question, more of an observation.

Hazarding a guess, Guruko asked, "It's Lina-chan, isn't it?"

The pack had extracted tiny bits of detail about the 'incident', but all they could tell from Kakashi's side was that they'd had a fight. Even talking to Daisuke, back in their own dimension, they weren't able to get any more information, as it seemed the ninken boss' summoner was just as tight-lipped as Kakashi. But, from what they could tell, neither of their summoners were happy with the falling out, and the ninken could see that they wanted to return to each other again, a sure sign to the dogs that the summoners were each other's mates. Noting this, the eight rallied around their summoner, waiting patiently for him to realize that he needed her. Daisuke, ninken boss that he was, decided to let Lina figure it out on her own. Surely, her friends would help convince her in ways that only a human could.

Sighing, Kakashi was otherwise silent, his ninken taking it as an affirmation. Looking at each other, it was Guruko's whine that brought Kakashi's attention back to focus. Looking at the small ninken, Kakashi reached out to him, knowing that the dog missed the girl too, having bonded with her. The rest of the group huddled closer, taking care to comfort their summoner, pack leader, and adoptive pack mate.

XXX

That night, Lina was awoken from her horrible nightmare in tears by her sister and brother, both of whom had taken to sleeping with her on the bed.

"Nee-san, Nee-san! Wake up!" Katsumi shook her sister awake, hearing her whimpers and seeing tears coming out of her eyes.

Lina awoke with a start, choking on a sob, her eyes wild with terror. Staring at her siblings, Lina grabbed them into a tight hug and cried for the umpteenth time. The nightmare was horrible. Her parents' and grandparents' deaths had evolved until she felt like she was looking into two different scenes, one of their deaths, and the another of Souta's and Hanaki and Aoi's deaths, and then the voices, all the voices, whispering, shouting, cursing in her ears, until she couldn't hear herself think. It was worse than when she'd had nightmares while away from the village!

Crying silently, Lina felt her siblings slowly fall back to sleep, but she lay awake, staring at the ceiling, reliving the nightmare in her head. And all she could think about was having Kakashi here to hold her.

XXX

"Lina-chan, how do you feel?" Gai was over, along with Hinata, Tenten, and Raidou, all checking up on Lina. Lina looked up at Gai from her lap and sighed. Shaking her head, she shrugged noncommittally, and felt Gai scoot closer to her on the couch, Raidou putting an arm over her shoulder.

"Lina-chan, you haven't been eating properly, have you? And you've got bags under your eyes, so you haven't been sleeping well either." Gai was acting normally, remembering Lina's request from before.

"Gai's right. I know you're probably trying to stay strong for your siblings, but you won't last long like this." Raidou said quietly. He'd heard from Gai on his way over about why Lina was so upset, and coupled with their meeting at her family's burned compound, Raidou was beside himself with anger at Genma. But before he could do anything, Gai had stopped him, saying something about how only the power of youth could save his two beloved friends' relationship, and that as admirable as Raidou was for standing up for Lina's honor, it should be Kakashi who did it, and only after they'd figured everything out.

"Lina nee-san, we...we heard from Katsumi-nee how you haven't been sleeping well. Maybe talking to Kakashi-sensei would help?" Hinata suggested gently. She'd watched her adoptive older sister's health deteriorate and her body wither away for the last week and a half, first with her break up with Kakashi, and now the loss of half of her family. As she spoke, she watched Lina's body stiffen yet again at the mention of his name, and her heart reached out to her.

"I...I can't go to him."

"Why not?" Tenten asked.

"Because…"

"Nee-chan, we can all see that it's hurting you to be away from him."

"But…" _'What Genma said, how everyone acted…'_

"Genma wasn't thinking when he said that, you know he wouldn't say anything that mean to you…" Raidou stopped, seeing Lina's eyebrows raise in an 'oh really?' way. Considering how the man acted with her before knowing she was Hana, and even after, why would she expect anything else of him? Sighing, Raidou continued. "Fine, he would, but he doesn't mean to be mean. And really, you shouldn't care about what he thinks, right?"

_'It's not just him…' _Lina thought, her mind immediately resurfacing to pelt her with reasons why it was such a horrible idea, but now, she was beginning to have a voice of her own in her own head (if that made sense), and she was slowly beginning to hold her own in an argument against herself.

"Lina-chan, you know that I've known Kakashi for years, which means I know him well. He's not the type to care about what other people think. You shouldn't care either, because in all honesty, Kakashi really does care about you." Gai said in a confident voice. The combined wheedling and convincing of everyone who knew part of the story was starting to take its toll on her, he mused, and soon-

Lina stood up. Biting her lip, she took in a deep breath and walked to the door.

"Where are you going?" Raidou's voice sounded out from behind her, and she turned around, seeing her siblings poke their heads out of the kitchen, the rest of the group turning to look at her. Clenching her jaw in nervousness, she said, "I'm going to apologize for shooing away a scarecrow." She couldn't help a small smile that formed on her lips as she watched Gai, Katsumi and Kei grin at her, Tenten and Hinata looking relieved, and Raidou, nodding in approval.

"Good luck, Lina nee-chan." Hinata said, Tenten and the two siblings nodding along.

"Thanks." Turning back, Lina exited her apartment, pausing outside the door to take a deep breath before she turned towards Kakashi's apartment. Reaching out with her chakra, she felt for his presence, and found it. He was alone. _'Good.'_

Walking to his door, Lina's heart thumped louder and louder in her chest, her stomach clenching. She had to steel herself for a moment, mentally shaking out the horrible thoughts that were coming fully at her now without restraint, and raised her fist to rap on the door quickly. Clenching her hands together, she began to fidget. She really should have planned out what she was going to say beforehand, but it was too late now. She could feel Kakashi's chakra coming to the door, and in a moment it opened, revealing a mildly surprised Kakashi in front of her.

"Lina." Kakashi spoke the girl's name, not quite believing his eye that she was in front of him, but the chakra was unmistakeable, not to mention her scent was ingrained in his genius brain and nostrils.

"May I come in?" Lina asked, her eyes darting down as she spoke.

There was a short pause. "No." Whipping her head up, Lina stared up at Kakashi, shocked. Looking at his face, her own drained of color, and she lowered her gaze again. Right, she deserved that. Kicking him out of her apartment, naked, and with no explanation certainly _did_ warrant some resentment. Taking in a deep breath, Lina closed her eyes briefly to collect herself, and began to speak.

"K-Kakashi...I…" _'Well this is going well.'_ Lina sighed inwardly and paused, regrouping. Looking up into Kakashi's eye, which she noted was simply staring at her with an unreadable expression, she tried again. "I'm sorry. I acted like a real idiot, I know. I'm sorry, for not explaining, for just pushing you away. I'm really, truly sorry." Lina's voice lowered with each sentence, and soon she was choking on her words, her eyes forming tears as she continued to speak. "But, I want to go back. This past little while...losing my family like that, I realized that I can't...I can't not have you in my life. Even if we can't go back to how we were, because I know I was an idiot, but even if we can't, I can't not have you as a friend. I need you...as a friend."

"You're okay with just having me as a friend?" Kakashi said impassively, his head numb as he watched Lina sniffle softly in front of him, her face bent down so that he couldn't see her expression despite her hair in her typical bun.

Pausing, Lina said softly, "I can work on it." Waiting, Lina closed her eyes, praying that he would allow her to at least stay friends with him. No, staying friends with him wouldn't be easy, but it was better than nothing, right?

"No."

Lina froze, hearing Kakashi say that one dreaded word again, her breath stuck in her throat. Swallowing hard, Lina blinked away the tears that were still in her eyes, and without looking at Kakashi, nodded. "I understand." She said softly but clearly. "I really am sorry." She turned away from Kakashi, about to go back to her apartment, her hands clenched tight around each other, so tight that if either of them had looked down, they would see the skin over her knuckles standing stark-white against her light-medium skin.

Seeing Lina turn away, Kakashi acted instinctively, grabbing her elbow and hauling her towards him, slamming the door and pushing her against it. Forcing her chin up, Kakashi growled out, "You push me away with no explanation, no warning, nothing, and you expect me to take you back as a friend?" He stared down at her fiercely, waiting for her response, noting that she hadn't shed a single tear yet, all of them still within the confines of her eyelids.

Lina looked back at Kakashi, and swallowed hard. Tensing up, she said, "I know I have problems. I know. I just...I just thought I'd ask. But you've made it very clear that that isn't possible. Sorry I wasted your time." She twisted her elbow out of Kakashi's grasp and turned back to the door, twisting the handle. But as she pulled, she felt something blocking the door from opening. Looking up, she noticed Kakashi's hand resting on the door above her head, and she sighed. "Kakashi, move aside."

Kakashi stared that the tiny girl's back. Hearing her speak, Kakashi finally reacted. Leaning closer to her, Kakashi asked, "You're really alright with being just friends?" His whole body was screaming for her to say no, but of course, she couldn't tell since she wasn't facing him. He watched her pause, and then nod slowly. Taking some hope in that pause, Kakashi stepped in closer to her, his other hand coming up to rest beside her on the door, restricting her movements. Feeling her feel the change, Kakashi watched her pause again, and rest her forehead on the door, and then shake her head.

Lina felt Kakashi's hand come up beside her, and she stilled. Dropping her hand from the handle, Lina clenched her eyes shut, and shook her head. No, if she was being honest with herself, she would not be alright with them being just friends. But, it was still better than the alternative...right?

"Lina, look at me." Lina opened her eyes, hearing Kakashi talk to her, not unkindly, but not as he used to either. Raising her head, Lina turned, unnerved that he was still so close to her. Looking up, she saw his eye soften ever so slightly, for a second, before the pain returned.

"Are you okay with us just being friends?" He was going to make her say it out loud. Kakashi watched her throat ligaments constrict and tighten slightly, and saw her mouth open to give him a response.

"No." Lina whispered, her eyes looking directly up at him. Hell, if this was it, she may as well go all out, right?

Kakashi heard her speak, and in one fell swoop he grabbed her and held her close, turning so that he was now the one leaning against the door with her pressed against his chest. Immediately, his skin, muscles, his very _bones_ sang out as he held her again, and he could tell that despite her confusion, she was feeling it too.

Confused, Lina squeaked as she felt Kakashi hug her tightly and turn both of them around, but her body melted into him, instantly remembering what it felt like to hold him. Laying her head on his chest somewhat stiffly and definitely tentatively, Lina clenched her hands together again even tighter if possible, both of them pressed between the two bodies, praying that she didn't do anything to break this moment. She could feel both of their heartbeats racing, and she knew that he could too.

After taking a moment to live purely through touch, Kakashi loosened his grip on Lina and grabbed her upper arms. Pulling her away, Kakashi said, "Good, because I can't stand being just friends with you. But damn it, girl, you can _not_ run like that every time something scares you. Understood?" He stared into her shocked eyes, waiting for her to say something, anything.

Lina gaped up at him, her brain slowly processing those lines. Finally, her mouth opened. "S-so...you...you forgive..me?" This was beyond unexpected. This was impossible. She'd been awful to him, and he was going to accept her? _Her?_ Why? She was nothing, nobody. _'Why?'_

Kakashi swallowed, hearing Lina's voice squeak out words that made his heart hurt. Fixing her with a glare, he said, "If you promise not to run again. Because I'm not going into this if you're just going to head for the hills every time something scares you."

Lina stared at him in silence for a long time before she swallowed hard. Nodding, she said, "I won't run." She wasn't sure if she could keep that promise, but she did know that she would try. And where exactly would she run to anyways? This past two weeks of being without him had hurt her so badly that she didn't ever want to feel like that again. So, she would try.

Kakashi heard her speak those three blessed words, and he snapped. Pulling her back to him, Kakashi held her tight against his chest, hoarsely saying, "Good."

Feeling the lump in her throat grow even more, Lina laid her head down on Kakashi's chest again, eyes closed as she desperately clung to the hope that this wasn't just a dream. Breathing in his scent, Lina finally felt the tears fall out of the corners of her eyes. Smelling the saltiness of tears, Kakashi pulled Lina away from his chest, only to come down to her level so that he could kiss her through his still-in-place mask. His hands came down to pry hers apart to hold them, but he heard a sharp gasp and hiss before he smelled the faintest hint of blood.

Pulling away, Kakashi and Lina looked down to see Lina's hands covered in small nail marks that had blood forming at the edges of the cuts. Seeing the cuts, Kakashi immediately knew that she'd been unwittingly hurting herself while they talked, and his heart constricted again. But as he looked at her hands, he heard a breathy laugh fall from Lina's mouth.

"I guess I got a little nervous..." Lina laughed breathily, nervous. Her eyes widened as she watched Kakashi's hands come to take hers, and saw him examine her self-inflicted injuries. She heard him sigh before he dragged her into the apartment, ignoring her, "Hang on, my shoes are still on!" Sitting her on the couch, Kakashi said, "Wait here." He disappeared into the kitchen and appeared a moment later with a first aid kit. Sitting beside her, Kakashi gently dabbed some healing salve along all 10 cuts.

"Unfortunately, I don't know any medical ninjutsu, so this'll have to do."

"No, it's fine. Thank you." Lina said softly, her eyes trained on his hands. Wrapping the gauze around her wounds, making sure to cover them all, Kakashi held her hands for a moment longer than necessary before he made to get up. Seeing this, Lina quickly grabbed his hands, effectively stopping his movements. Looking up at Kakashi, Lina said once again, "Thank you." She meant more than just for treating her hands, and he knew it. Slowly sitting back down, Kakashi nodded, squeezing back as he felt her squeeze his hands.

Dropping her gaze, Lina slowly withdrew her hands from his, unsure of what to do next. Bending her head down to fidget with her newly tended-to hands, Lina felt Kakashi pull her chin back up and turn it to face him. Looking at him, Lina watched his other hand come up to touch her cheek slowly, her breath catching again as she felt it make contact with her face. Looking back into Kakashi's eye, she reached up to hold his hand against her cheek, his other hand that had been on her chin now covering her other hand on her lap. Staring at each other, Lina tried to contain herself for as long as she could, but soon she found herself leaning closer to him.

Seeing him unmoved, she leaned in even closer, until they were just a breath away from each other. Closing her eyes, Lina softly kissed Kakashi's cloth-covered lips, her hands moving to the front of his shirt. She wanted so much to kiss him without his mask on, but she knew that she'd hurt him, and she didn't deserve to do so until he'd forgiven her. Feeling Kakashi's arms come around her body, Lina leaned in closer, her hands coming up to cradle his head. Puling away for a moment, Lina looked into Kakashi's eye, wondering if he could tell from that kiss how sorry she was.

He could. Kakashi looked into Lina's yet-again teary eyes, and saw the sorrow and pain all of this had caused her, and he felt a small part of him nod in vindictiveness, not quite happy that she was upset, but still appreciating it. He wondered if that made him a bad person, but in the next moment he forgot about it, as he felt his arms automatically pull her towards him, pulling her into another kiss. Reaching up behind her, Kakashi undid her hair tie, letting her hair fall down her back. As it fell, Kakashi felt Lina's tears stream down her face and stain his mask, and he reached up to cup her face again. Pulling away to have a good look at her, Kakashi saw her bottom lip tremble and shake as she tried to control her tears. He pulled her to his chest, holding her as she cried silently.

Lina was becoming overwhelmed with emotion as she felt Kakashi undo her hair, their past coming back in flashes in her mind. As she felt Kakashi kiss her again, she couldn't help the overwhelming sense of relief that he was kissing her back, that he was allowing her one more chance to not screw this up. With her parents gone, with her own mind throwing insults in her face, having Kakashi here accepting her again was enough to send her over the edge again, bringing on the tears. Lina clung onto him, crying onto Kakashi's chest, and thanked whoever was up there watching over her that she at least had him and her siblings. Shaking with harsh sobs, Lina felt Kakashi rub her back soothingly, and she knew that he knew that this was about more than just them. It was about everything that had happened to her in the last two weeks.

Kakashi felt and heard Lina's crying diminish slowly, and he held her tight, his own racing heart slowing as he grew accustomed to her again. After a while, Lina pulled away and wiped her face across the backs of her hands, saying, "Kakashi I-..I'm really sorry about everything, I was so stupid and I-"

"It's alright now." Kakashi cut in, seeing her begin to shake again. Lina shook her head vehemently, pulling away.

"No! It's not alright! I-If I never get to see you again, if something happens to you on a mission, I want you to know-"

"Nothing's going to happen to me." Kakashi said automatically, not thinking. He reached towards her, stopping as he watched her pull away.

"You don't know that!" Lina said, aghast. After all, her parents hadn't known that they were going to die. Seeing her shocked and grief-stricken face, Kakashi nodded, understanding.

"You're right, I don't. But it's alright. I know what you want to say, and I'm telling you, it's alright."

"But-"

Kakashi sighed. "Fine, Lina. You're a horrible person, and you completely ruined me. Happy?" He said exasperatedly. Sure, she had messed up, but who didn't? It wasn't in his nature to not let things go. Well, except when it came to Obito, Rin, and Minato, but that was a completely different story. For this particular situation, he just wanted her back in his arms again.

Lina glanced down at her lap, fidgeting again. "I just don't want to regret not telling you how sorry I am if something happens…" She knew Kakashi didn't mean it (well, she _hoped_ he didn't) when he said she'd ruined him, but it still stung.

Kakashi slumped slightly and said, "I know. But I'm telling you, it's okay now." He watched Lina slowly raise her head.

"Really?" Her voice sounded small, especially to her.

"Really."

Lina's face relaxed in relief and she crawled back and hugged Kakashi once more. After a moment, not getting up, Lina said, "There's just one thing."

"With you? Nooo…" Kakashi said sarcastically.

Lina pulled away slightly to look up at Kakashi, pouting. "Alright, I deserved that, but still. Ouch." She quirked a small smile as she heard Kakashi snort.

"Well? What is it?"

Lina laid her head down on his chest again, and said, "You can't ask me why I'm the way I am." She felt Kakashi's chest rise as he drew in a deep breath, but she continued, wanting to explain. "It's really complicated, and it's got to do with a pretty awful time in my life, and it's hard for me to talk about it. I haven't told anyone ever, except Dai-chan. So...do you think you can be patient with me?" She held her breath, waiting. This had to be the largest blow by far. If he could accept her without question...well, then she could definitely keep herself from running.

"You want me to be patient with you?" Kakashi said, feeling Lina nod into him.

"I know it's a lot to ask and-"

"Okay."

Lina lifted herself clean off of his chest and stared at him. "What?"

Kakashi looked into her face, taking in her still slightly-red nose, her tear-soaked lashes, her still downturned mouth. Reaching up to touch her cheek, Kakashi said, "Okay. I'll be patient if you promise not to run."

Feeling Kakashi's hand go to her cheek, Lina marvelled at how his eye could be so expressive just staring at her. Understanding now exactly how much this meant to both of them, Lina latched her arms around Kakashi's neck, tears forming yet again. "Yes. Yes, yes. Kakashi, thank you, thank you. You don't know how much this means to me." So emotional was she that she didn't even realize it as she began kissing her way up his neck to his lips, still covered by the mask. Reaching his mouth, Lina looked back into Kakashi's eye, stilling as she realized what she was doing.

Kakashi looked back at her, feeling her waiting for him, and said, "Why are you stopping?" He watched her eyes widen for a fraction of a second before they softened. Lina bent down and tentatively kissed him through the mask, pushing against him even more as she felt him respond. Closing her eyes, Lina ran her fingers through his hair, clutching at it as she contented herself with only kissing cotton. She felt Kakashi break away, kissing the side of her mouth before moving to her jawline, and Lina tipped her head back for him, her hands moving to his chest.

Kakashi kissed his way up her jawline, nibbling on her earlobe through his mask, and asked, "You're fine with just my mask?" He felt Lina still slightly before she responded.

"I don't deserve any more."

Letting go of her ear, Kakashi kissed his way back to her lips and murmured, "Take it off." He looked at her as she stared back at him, wide-eyed. Watching her swallow, Kakashi felt her hands come up to his face and slowly slip down his mask. Lina took in a sharp breath, seeing him fully for the first time since their falling out. Her eyes travelling down his face, Lina could see that he hadn't shaved in a couple of days, the silver-grey stubble a new sight for her. She took the liberty of also divesting his hitai ate from his forehead, revealing his closed Sharingan. Returning back to his eye, Lina leaned into him slowly and placed a soft kiss on his lips, feeling the stubble rub her face as she did. Had his lips always been so soft, so tender? Lina couldn't tell if it was just her or not, but she somehow felt like she was kissing him for the first time, but at the same time as if she'd never stopped.

Kissing him harder, Lina felt him respond with equal vigor, and soon she was slowly tracing his lips with her tongue, gaining access to his mouth, and diving in. Nudging her tongue against his, Lina moaned and shuddered in his arms, melting as she felt her whole body tingle with the kiss. The extra friction of his facial hair only added to her need, and her hands moved to touch his face, the scratchy feeling exhilarating against them. Kakashi felt Lina shake, hearing her moan, and he gripped her tighter, keeping her close to him. The feel of her lips and hands, the taste of her tongue, her smell, how she felt in his arms, how she moaned and melted into him, it all reminded him of the past. Except this wasn't the past. It was the present. She was here, with him, right now. And he'd be damned if he let the situation go to waste.

Kakashi's hand came down to bring her closer to him, pulling her over to his lap so that she straddled him, his hand ending up resting on her hip. He felt her sit down on his thighs, her chest pressed up against his, and he knew that she too could fell their hearts hammering away together. Pushing his own tongue into her mouth, Kakashi felt as if they'd never parted, instantly remembering how she felt, how she tasted. Whether that was a part of his genius, or whether it was his body's instinct, he didn't know, but he liked to think that it was the latter.

Slowly, Lina and Kakashi's kisses became less fevered and more languid, neither of them quite wanting to return to the sexual part of the relationship quite yet. It was enough just to be able to hold each other, to comfort each other. Sex could wait. Slowing their kisses, Lina crinkled her nose and smiled as she felt Kakashi's nose nudge against hers. Laughing through her nose, Lina nudged back, softly placing kisses on his lips now. Opening her eyes, Lina leaned up to kiss the tip of his nose, pulling back uncertainly as she saw Kakashi's charcoal eye widen.

"What?"

Kakashi reached up to touch Lina's face frowning. "Your face is all red and inflamed-looking."

Reaching up, Lina too touched her face before she realized why. Smiling, she said, "That's what happens when_ you_ don't shave."

"Oh." Kakashi pondered this, and began to push her off of him and onto the sofa, but she stopped him.

"Uh uh. Don't shave. I kinda like the look." Lina teased tentatively, wondering if it was too soon. Evidently it wasn't, if Kakashi's smirk was any indication. Pulling her back across him, Kakashi said, "Oh really?"

Lina grinned back and nodded. Looking away, suddenly shy, Lina said in a softer tone, "Plus, it's another side of you that most people don't really get to see." She felt Kakashi's lips on her jaw, and she shuddered, turning her head back so she could kiss him again. "That it is." Lina felt Kakashi's murmured voice against her lips, and she smiled. Just then, her stomach growled, and they both looked down. Smiling sheepishly, Lina pulled away, hands cover her stomach, and said, "Sorry."

Kakashi looked back at her and frowned. "Did you eat?" Now that he really looked at her, he could see that she was even thinner. Watching her shake her head, Kakashi tsk'ed and said, "There's food in the fridge."

Lina shook her head quickly and said, "Oh no, it's fine. There's food in my place." She got up and walked to the door, stopping as she felt Kakashi's arms wrap around her.

"Stay." Kakashi was overcome with a fear (although he'd never admit to it no matter how much you asked) that she would walk out of his door, and he'd never see her again. Sensing the emotion behind his words, Lina turned back to him, holding him close, and nodded. She only now realized that she'd really done a number on him by having him leave that night, and she felt awful for doing so. Pushing him back on the couch, Lina tilted his chin up and softly kissed him before she said, "I'll be right back." She walked towards his kitchen and out of sight, but he could hear her opening the fridge and digging through whatever mess he had in there. As he waited, he replaced his mask on his face and decided to take care of several extra pairs of ears that happened to be around.

XXX

"What are they saying?!" Gai asked in a low voice (or, as low as his voice could get, really), pushing his ears up against the door. He and Kei were pressed up against Kakashi's door, having been listening from Lina's room when she was outside. Being a part of the Sasaki clan, Kei too had increased hearing, although, since he didn't have a ninken, it wasn't nearly as trained as Lina's, not to mention Kakashi's legendary hearing. He'd picked up bits and pieces of the conversation while Lina was still outside, which had made him furious as he'd heard Kakashi make her say everything outside, in public, rather than in a more private setting. But as soon as they'd moved into Kakashi's apartment, He and Gai had snuck out of her own to listen in. Of course, Raidou had thought they were being ridiculous, as had Katsumi and Tenten, Hinata not saying much, but they didn't care.

Hearing Lina's confession and apology through the door, Kei had had to silently shush Gai as he'd shed manly tears for her, only to have to be restrained by Gai as Kei heard Kakashi treat her so coldly. Even if the man _was_ a legend, and his idol, no one got to treat his sister that way! But hearing Kakashi finally acknowledge Lina again (at least, that's what it sounded like), Kei and Gai had grinned happily at each other. But now, there had been quite a bit of silence. What was going on in there?

XXX

Kakashi walked up to his door, sighing, and opened it, not at all surprised that two lumps of human flesh fell through the space.

"Oof!" Kei moaned, him being the one sandwiched between the floor and Gai. Both of them looked up to see Kakashi standing, watching them, and they quickly leapt up.

"Oi, my eternal rival, Kakashi-o! So, how are things going with the lovely Lina-chan? Have you two professed your undying love for each other yet? You must! You mustn't hold back, dear rival! Profess your love to her. Profess, I say!"

"Gai, enough. Both of you, stop snooping." Kakashi was actually for once happy that his kettle was so loud, by the sound of the noise coming out of the kitchen, covering up Gai's outbursts.

"Kakashi-san, don't you ever hurt her, do you understand?" Kei drew himself up to his full height, which was still a half head shorter than Kakashi, not even including the latter's hair. Kakashi looked down at the boy and said, "Kei, right? I never planned on hurting her." He watched in amusement as the boy fought to keep his control, apparently thrilled that the Copy Ninja remembered his name. Clearing his throat, Kei, nodded and said, "Right."

"Good, now both of you, go away. I'd like some alone time with her." Kakashi said coolly, smirking under his mask as his reputation did the rest of the work.

"Eww! Alright, I got it, I'm off." Kei said, immediately gaining an unwanted image of his sister and his idol doing..._things_ together. Chuckling, Kakashi said, "Tell your other sister not to worry either." He received a wave of recognition before he turned back to Gai.

Gai clapped a hand on his rival's shoulder and said in a more serious tone, "I'm glad that you two are good. Nothing makes me happier than seeing my friends happy."

"Thanks, Gai."

Gai nodded and dropped his hand. "Well! With all this drama, I've completely messed up my training schedule! If you'll excuse me, I'm off to make up all that I've missed. 100 laps around the village on only my hands should be a good start!" Bouncing away, Gai missed the incredulous look on Kakashi's face and the shake of his head.

"What was that?" Kakashi turned to look at Lina, having just closed the door. She walked out of the kitchen, carrying a bowl of instant miso soup, a plate covering the bowl to keep the heat in. Setting it down, Lina looked up at Kakashi and smiled.

Kakashi walked back to her, shaking his head. "Nothing. Just some nosy people I got rid of." He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pushing her down to sit on the couch as they waited for the miso soup to become ready to eat. Looking at the bowl, Kakashi asked, "Is that all I have left?" He didn't remember having so little food in the house.

Lina shook her head, leaning it into his shoulder. "I didn't want to waste your food." She was still sort of shocked at how the day had turned out. One minute she was yet again upset about everything, the next, she was back with Kakashi. Her life just kept giving her more twists and turns as she went along.

Kakashi snorted as he heard her speak. "Lina, it'll be a waste if _you_ don't eat it, you know that, right?" He felt her nod an poke his side softly, not quite as hard or as playfully as she would before the fight. He reached over to pull her other hip towards him so that she was facing him on her side, and he turned himself to face her as well. Pulling down his mask, Kakashi softly kissed her nose and then her lips. As he continued to kiss her lips, Kakashi felt her relax into him, and he slowly eased her tenseness. After a few more minutes, they stopped, and Lina began to drink her soup, Kakashi watching.

XXX

They stayed in the apartment, just holding each other, not saying much, for the rest of the day and evening. Eventually, Kakashi told her about how Gai and Kei had been listening at his door, and they had a good laugh. As night fell, Lina suggested that she leave, thinking that it was too soon for her to stay over, but Kakashi had other ideas.

"Stay. We don't need to do anything." Kakashi suggested.

"I-is it alright? Aren't you still mad?" Lina couldn't imagine that he had forgiven her so quickly, no matter how much they'd made out. Kakashi looked away, pausing before he spoke. "I am, but I'll get over it. I want you to stay more than I want to be mad at you."

Lina watched him for a moment before she nodded. She too wanted to stay, so she crawled into Kakashi's bed and laid down on her back next to him, keeping a safe distance away from him, just in case. But Kakashi didn't want her to be so far away. After days of missing her warmth in his bed, how could he possibly be alright with her sleeping on the other side of the bed when she was only an arm's length away from being right beside him? Reaching over to her, Kakashi pulled her over to him, drawing her in close. He felt her snuggle into him tentatively, and he turned her to her side, facing him. Looking into her eyes, illuminated by the moonlight, Kakashi saw that she wanted to apologize again, so he placed a finger over her mouth, shaking his head. Feeling her swallow, and seeing her eyebrows furrow, Kakashi watched Lina nod slowly.

Lina pulled Kakashi's hand away from her mouth and reached up to give Kakashi a sweet kiss. Pulling away, Lina murmured, "Good night." She felt Kakashi pull her into his chest, and heard him say, "Good night." For the first time in a while, they were finally going to get a good night's sleep.

XXX

Several hours later, Lina awoke abruptly, her senses tingling. Sitting up swiftly, she took stock of herself. Still fully clothed, not bound, not injured except her hands….why? Oh right, Kakashi. _'Okay, so I'm fine. Check.'_ Next. Lina looked around the room, instantly recognizing it. Looking down, she felt a hand resting on her lap, and she followed it to see an awake Kakashi watching her.

Smiling down at him, Lina said, "Hey. Were you watching me sleep?" _'Was that it?'_

Kakashi smiled, his gaze soft, and nodded. "I couldn't sleep. But that's not what's bugging you." He didn't elaborate, so Lina heightened her sense of smell. Intruders? Nope. Besides, if there were, she doubted that Kakashi would just lay here and not tell her. She tried her ears next. And then she heard it.

It was faint, probably because it was several doors down, but she could hear screaming. A male. Whirling around, Lina asked, "How can you be so calm about someone screaming? What if they need help?" She was about to get out of bed when she felt Kakashi catch hold of her wrist.

"They don't. This is a jounin apartment. Most of the residents in here have nightmares at least once a week. You've only been here a couple of times, and lucky you, you didn't hear anything while you were here before, but this is actually a pretty common occurrence. You'll get used to it eventually." Kakashi watched Lina sink back into bed, laying her head down on the pillow.

"Then why were you up?"

"Insomnia." Kakashi waved the question off, and Lina fell silent. She knew the feeling of being unable, or too scared to fall asleep. As she lay there, trying to get back to dreamland, she realized that she was recognizing the other person's screams more and more. _'Hang on…'_

"Oh _gods_." Lina bolted out of the bed and ran out of the bedroom, Kakashi following her.

"What is it?"

"It's Kei." Lina ran out of Kakashi's apartment and into her own to find Katsumi desperately holding onto a screaming Kei, tears coursing down both of their faces. Rushing in, Lina immediately took control.

"Tsumi, it's alright, I've got this, go sit down. Kei, Kei, Kei wake up. Wake up, it's alright. Wake up, come on." Lina sat down on Kei's legs, stilling them as she shook Kei awake. Feeling the change, Kei immediately awoke, eyes wild with fear.

"Okaa-san, Otou-san, dead. Tsumi-nee, Lina-nee! Don't leave me, don't leave me!"

"Kei, Kei look at me. Look at me. It's alright, it was just a dream. You're fine. Tsumi and I are fine. We're not leaving you. Kei do you hear me? We're not leaving you." Lina said firmly, her hands tight around her brother's shoulders. Seeing his eyes begin to clear, Lina pulled him into a tight hug, preparing herself for the sobs. And soon enough, Kei began to cry convulsively, clinging onto his eldest sister as he spoke incoherently into her shoulder. All the stress and build up that he'd kept inside, thinking that he was the 'man' of the house, came pouring out, and Lina rocked him back and forth, holding him as the sobs began to slowly fade. Stroking his hair, Lina looked over at Katsumi, noticing her also sniffling, and she gestured for the younger sister to come in for a hug as well. Pulling away from Kei for a moment, Lina got off of his legs and sat on the couch, hugging both of her siblings close to her. Out of the corner of her eye, Lina saw Kakashi come into view with a teapot and three cups.

Mouthing a thank you, Lina returned to her siblings, both of whom were now very thankful that their older sister was with them, and that she was the strong one again. The two younger siblings had fought to keep their emotions in check as they'd seen their eldest sister deteriorate, but now, with her apparently on good terms with Kakashi again, they could let some of the tension loose.

Lina rocked her siblings back and forth, petting their heads and gently telling them that they would be alright. Slowly, she felt Kei fall asleep again, Katsumi following him shortly. Laying them down on the couch together, amazed that they fit, Lina grabbed a wrap from her room and threw it over them.

Turning to Kakashi, Lina sighed. She took a seat in the loveseat, patting the armrest for Kakashi to sit, and said softly, "Thanks for the tea. I really need it." She took a few sips and sighed again, relaxing into the chair, feeling Kakashi's arm rest on her shoulder. She placed her cup on the table and pulled Kakashi further into the seat until he was no longer on the armrest, and now on the seat itself, squishing in with her. Folding her legs under her, Lina twisted so that she was on her side, her head on Kakashi's chest, and hugged him and said, "Stay?" She felt Kakashi nod, and she snuggled up to him. Slowly, they drifted off to sleep, none of the three siblings nor Kakashi waking up again for the rest of the night.

XXX

"Well? How is turning two of the three siblings into a blubbering mess useful?" Torune asked, he and Fuu having departed from outside Lina's apartment.

They'd waited outside of Lina's bedroom window, seeing the door open, and placed a delayed confusion mind jutsu on Kei that only activated when he was asleep, and only once. Fuu turned to Torune and said, "We needed to see who was the strongest. Now we know."

"But, she came with Hatake Kakashi. Her strength seems to be a correlation of how connected she is with Kakashi." Torune observed.

"That's right. We'll need to report that to him." Fuu pointed out. Secretly, neither he nor Torune were happy with messing with the Sasaki's, but having seen what Danzo did to the Yamanaka and Sasaki compounds, neither breathed a word against him. That, and the fact that they both (as well as the rest of ROOT) had curse marks on their tongues. So, the two waited, biding their time. It was horrible, but from what they could see, the eldest Sasaki sibling would be more than competent in taking care of her family.

-end

Author's note: Yeeks, I had the most horrible case of writer's block for a couple of days, wasn't sure if I'd finish this in time.

Onto this chapter: what did you think? I was planning on her telling him everything in this chapter, but because it's so emotional to her, I decided to wait for the next chapter (hint hint!). That being said, she's gonna have to deal with having a family again (the trials and tribulations of having siblings...joy! Lol), as well as training (not just by herself, with Kakashi, or her team!), keeping her insecurities in check while she's with Kakashi...yikes! Lots of stuff to think about in the next chapter. I know, their making up scene was a little cliché, but I was listening to romance songs all the way through writing it, so you can't really blame me, right? Ehehe...well, I at least tried to tone down on the whole mushy Romeo Juliet balcony-esque scene as much as possible...I hope I didn't make any of you guys throw up!

Oh, but before that: that scene with Gai, Raidou, Tenten, Hinata, and her siblings, where they're trying to convince her to go to him. Yeah, I know that it seemed really fast that she'd decided that she would apologize to him, but you gotta remember that it's been a week and a half, and they've been trying to convince her, and she's slowly realized that she wants to see him too. So yeah...lol

About Fuu and Torune: Yes, I know that they're from ROOT, and are supposed to be brain-washed, but you saw how Sai overcame that, and in that filler episode, Torune too (sort of). So, in this story, I'm making them good guys, just under a bad leader.

As always, thank you guys so much for the reads, a special thank you to Helli and Anuxamurane for the reviews and PMs respectively, you guys are amazing! Just a heads up, I'll be going on vacation from the 20th to the 29th, so I won't have anything posted until at earliest the 30th, although I'm not sure if I'll be writing during my vacation, so most likely it won't be until the following week after. On the plus side, next chapter (which will most likely be the last before the break) will not gonna be too big of a cliffhanger, I'll leave the Pain invasion and jounin exams and all that until after the break to not torture you guys :D I love you guys so much, I would love to hear more from all of you! Please review, PM me, or say something, because I really do love reading all of your comments. Sorry that this chapter was such a short one in contrast to the previous few, forgive me? Until next week, ja ne!


	25. Chapter 25

**Something I wanted to mention, just cuz it's somewhat relevant to the story: right after the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime, the Pain arc starts. Now, I personally want to develop more of the Lina/Kakashi/rest of the gang's relationships, so I'm stretching the time frame just a bit. Pain invasion won't come for a few chapters.**

As always, please review, comment, write something! I'm dying to know what you guys think. Ja ne! ;)

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. I do, however, own any original ideas or characters (such as Sasaki Lina) that I have created.

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Sasaki Lina is 29. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: **the Pain arc is still going to happen, I'm making Sasuke come back too, but Shinobi Alliance arc is still going to happen, as well as anything that didn't directly involve him in the anime/manga.** I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?)

_**PLEASE REVIEW! COMMENT, ANYTHING! THANKS :D**_

_**Chapter 25**_

The next morning, Lina woke up slightly cramped and uncomfortable. It took her not long to figure out why. _'So that's why I don't sleep on the couch. Right.' _

Glancing to her side, she saw that Kakashi was still asleep, and she smiled, a staggering sense of relief flowing through her. Looking down, she saw that their bodies were perfectly entangled, and that moving even one limb would probably cause him to wake up, but she really had no other choice. Slowly and very carefully, Lina moved each of her legs to the side farthest from Kakashi, using her hands to hold onto his legs and place them back on the couch gently. She grabbed his arm that was slung over her waist and carefully lifted it off of her, ready to lift herself up and replace it on the couch when she noticed something. He was still halfway seated on the armrest, so if she lifted herself up, his entire body would slide into her spot and immediately wake him. On the other hand, she couldn't create a clone to hold him steady, because her hands were full, and she couldn't simply return to her original position without jostling him awake.

Sighing softly, Lina pursed her lips and carefully rose from her seat, wincing as she watched Kakashi slide down immediately and jerk awake.

"What's going on?" Kakashi awoke abruptly, feeling as if he was falling off of a cliff or something. He peered blurry-eyed up at Lina, and smiled softly, remembering them making up. That hadn't been a dream, right?

"Good morning." Lina said softly, not wanting to wake her siblings. She grimaced and said, "Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

Kakashi shook his head. "It's fine. What time is it?" He yawned, his mask covering it up, but he still covered his mouth with his hand, making her smile.

Shrugging, Lina said, "No idea, but I'm guessing it's around 8 or 9." She smiled as she heard him groan, and she bent down to give him a peck on his masked lips. Pulling away, she said, "Why don't you go sleep in my room? It'll be more comfortable, I'm sure you're aching from sleeping on the seat. I am."

Kakashi smiled under his mask as he felt her kiss. Getting up, he winced as he felt his joints crack, and heard Lina giggle. Sweeping her up into his arms and lifting her off the ground, Kakashi grinned as he spun her around, making her squeal.

"Get a room, you two." The two newly-reconnected adults stopped laughing and turned to see Katsumi and Kei awake, watching them with smiles on their faces. Blushing, Lina whispered in Kakashi's ear to put her down, and she made a show of straightening up.

"Maa, sorry, you two. Did we wake you?" Lina asked, chewing on her lip.

Kei shook his head, clearly doing much better than he'd been the previous night. "It's fine, we were thinking of going to sleep in your room anyway. Kakashi-san, you're welcome to take this couch. It's comfortable, although not so much when there's two people, both of whom don't have breasts." He stared pointedly at Katsumi's chest, making her smack him while Lina laughed.

"Kei, you're such a brat!" Katsumi said, blushing. She felt a pat on the shoulder and turned to see Lina looking at her smiling from behind the couch.

"It's alright, Katsumi. You're still young. And worst come to worst, you can always beg Tsunade-sama to teach you _how to increase them_." Lina laughed, choking on the last part as she felt Katsumi smack her hand away, fuming. Laughing, she hugged her younger sister tightly, and soon she had Katsumi smiling reluctantly as well. The laughter dying down, Lina slipped away from Katsumi and said, "I'm going to make breakfast. Are all three of you going to continue sleeping?"

Kakashi, smiling, got up and placed an arm around her waist. "I'll help." He and Lina both missed the knowing look that passed between the two younger siblings. The siblings had noticed that Lina's hair was still down from the previous night, but neither bothered to mention it. Katsumi and Kei made shows of yawning before Katsumi said, "We're going to sleep. Good night, nee-san, Kakashi-san."

The two adults nodded and watched them leave before they turned to each other. Turning to Kakashi, Lina said, "Why don't we go wash up first?"

Kakashi nodded and said, "I'll be right back." Just as he was going to form the seals, Lina quickly remembered something and grabbed his hand. "Don't shave." Kakashi quirked an eyebrow and smirked, nodding. Forming the hand seals, he body flicker'ed into his own apartment, and they both quickly went through their morning routine. Finishing up, Lina heard a faint poof from outside the bathroom, and she stuck her face out of the entrance. Smiling, she walked out of the room to meet Kakashi. Running a finger down Kakashi's uniform-covered chest (minus the flak vest), Lina softly said, "So? What do you want to eat?"

Kakashi caught her hand and brought it to his face, nibbling on her finger through his mask. Giggling, Lina's eyes widened as she felt the cloth become wet, and she yelped, trying to tug her hand away. But Kakashi held on tight, making a show of poking his tongue out against the cloth and brushing her fingers along the wet spot. Giggling, Lina ducked her head down and placed the side of her face on his chest, looking up at him from under her lashes. Biting her lip, Lina reached up and tugged Kakashi's mask down, lifting her head off of his chest so that she could look at him dead-on. Smiling, she beckoned him down, wrapping her free arm around his body.

Leaning down, Kakashi loosened his grip on her fingers, sliding his hand down her arm to her upper arm before he rested it against the couch, steadying himself. Pulling her towards him with an arm around her waist, Kakashi leaned in for a deep kiss, both of them smiling at the contact. Lina slid her newly freed hand up Kakashi's chest and around his neck, cupping his head as she arched into him. She felt him push her into the back of the couch, and gasped when she felt his hands come down to lift her up and place her on top of the back of the couch, his hold being the only thing steadying her. Gripping tightly on his shirt, Lina protested, feeling him push her further back, teetering on the edge. Just as she thought she was going to fall, Lina found herself, not. Looking up, she saw that Kakashi had an arm securely around her waist, and was holding her steady.

"I've got you." Kakashi said softly. Smiling, Lina nodded, pulling him into another kiss. Lifting her up, Kakashi felt Lina instinctually wrap her legs around his waist, and he carried her to the kitchen, still kissing her. Sitting down on a chair, Kakashi broke the kiss and murmured, "Breakfast?"

Lina leaned in to kiss him again, nibbling on his lower lip and smiled. "I'm not that hungry anymore. Can't we just stay like this?" She licked his lips for added effect, feeling the friction of his facial hair on her face again. Hearing him chuckle, Lina grinned and dipped her tongue in again, her body not wanting to leave him. She could feel that his didn't want to either, his arms tightening around her waist, his tongue coming out to meet hers, and they kissed for several more minutes, not worrying about anything else.

XXX

Finally sating their hunger to touch each other, if only for a little while, Lina and Kakashi reluctantly got up to actually get something to eat to sate their actual hunger. Going through the normal routine of making breakfast, it amazed them both how easy it was to invent ways to touch each other. A brush of fingers on her elbow, a soft pressure as they handed off ingredients to each other, the light press against Lina's back as Kakashi reached over her head to help her get an ingredient or spice, anything to keep from being apart too long. Two weeks was long enough.

Just as they were finishing up breakfast, Lina walked into her bedroom to find Kei and Katsumi pouring over the scrolls she'd been reading for the past week-ish. Seeing her, they guiltily dropped the scrolls and looked at her.

"Nee-san, what is all this?" Katsumi asked, gesturing at the books, scrolls, notes. Lina sighed and puffed out her cheeks. She supposed that it was time.

Gesturing for them to follow her, she said, "Breakfast is ready."

"But nee-chan-" Kei started.

"I'll discuss this while we all eat. Sit down. Kakashi, you can take the last one." Seeing as there were only three chairs, Lina opted to stand.

"Or, we can eat on the couch." Katsumi suggested, and Lina nodded. Relocating, the siblings piled onto the couch, Kakashi taking the loveseat.

"Well?" Kei said expectantly. Lina nodded and took in a deep breath.

"I've been researching how to get rid of those black flames. They're called Amaterasu, and they're supposedly only a technique that the Uchihas can use. You guys know the clan, right?" Lina asked, watching her siblings' faces slacken as they remembered the flames. Slowly, she continued.

"I looked up everything I could think of, but the only thing I can come up with is possibly sealing the fire into a modified fire-sealing technique. The only problem is, you need certain properties of the fire in order to create such a seal, and I don't have them, so I've been experimenting and looking up as much as I could from the Shinobi Library. It's been slow, but I think I'm finally getting somewhere."

"Lina, don't you need a bit of the actual fire to experiment on it?" Kakashi asked, already knowing that he wouldn't like the sound of her answer. Lina turned to him and nodded. "I have some. It's in a fire-proof container in my room. I went and got it a couple of day after...after it happened."

"Nee-san! Do you know how dangerous that is?! What if you'd touched it? You need to be extremely careful with that technique." Katsumi chided her, and Lina smiled despite herself.

"But it's the only way to figure this stuff out. Unless _you_ know of a way to remove the fire without sealing it away?" Lina watched her sister shake her head slowly and sigh exasperatedly at her. Her gaze softening for a moment as she watched her, Lina said sternly, "In my room, the bottom drawer of the chest is sealed. Don't unseal and open it under any circumstances, okay? That's where the fire is, in a fire-proof container, and I don't want either of you touching it."

"But nee-san, we want to help too!" Katsumi protested, Kei chiming in. "Yeah!" Lina shook her head. "No. Don't touch it. Promise me." She waited, but her siblings were silent. Pulling her 'older sister' look, Lina said even more firmly, "Promise me." After a heartbeat, the siblings sighed and nodded, but Lina waited.

"Fine! We promise, we promise! Gosh." Katsumi and Kei said, rolling their eyes. They knew that despite their differences, Lina had inherited her look from their mother, and there was no one who could have stood in the way of that woman when she'd wanted something. Lina was no different.

Nodding, Lina picked up her plate, having finished her food and walked into the kitchen, Kakashi and Kei following her while Katsumi finished up.

"Ne, ne, Lina-nee. You and Kakashi-san have...kissed, right?" Kei said suddenly, making Lina freeze in shock. Turning to Kei, she stared at him, blushing, and said, "Yeah…?"

Kei nodded eagerly at her. "So?" Lina looked back at him blankly. "So…?"

"What's under the mask!" Kei looked as if he was just about to burst with curiosity, and Lina laughed in relief.

"Ohhh! Jeez, I was way off for a minute there." Lina giggled, glancing at Kakashi, wondering how Kei could ask her such a question with him standing right next to them. Looking back at Kei, she smiled and said, "A nose and a mouth."

"Huh?" Kei was confused. Giggling, Lina elaborated. "You asked me what was under the mask. A nose and a mouth."

"Nee-chan, I know _that_!" Kei exclaimed exasperatedly. Grinning, Lina shrugged. "Hey, you asked." She heard Kakashi chuckle behind her and she nudged him with her elbow.

Giggling, Lina asked, "Kei, Kakashi is right here. Ask him yourself." She raised her brows in amusement as she watched her brother turn a pretty shade of pink, realizing that that was actually true. Mumbling something about needing to train, Kei made a hasty exit and left the apartment, throwing a dirty look at Lina as he left, hearing her roar in laughter.

Kakashi watched the two siblings banter, smiling as he saw a different side of her, the side of the elder sister. First, she was stern, caring for her siblings' safety above all else, and now, she was teasing and goading Kei in good humor. It was fascinating, especially to him, who was an only child. Chuckling as he watched Kei disappear, he heard Lina say, "That was fun."

"You're horrible." Katsumi walked in, shaking her head with a smirk on her face, and Lina giggled. "Oh come on! He makes it so easy!" She raised a hand at her sister, like she used to do, and smiled as she watched Katusmi high five her, albeit reluctantly. Just like they used to.

Kakashi smiled, watching the two sisters talk, and decided to take his leave. He still had to go visit the KIA stone to tell Obito, Rin, and Minato-sensei that everything was alright again. After that, he pretty much had the rest of the day off. Wrapping an arm around Lina's waist, Kakashi pulled her to him and said, "I'm going to go now. Are you doing anything today?"

Lina turned to Kakashi, surprised and slightly disappointed. "Oh...no, I'm not busy. I was planning on working on the scrolls and then train in the afternoon." She watched Katsumi smirk at them from the corner of her eye before she walked out of the kitchen to give them privacy. Hearing her leave, Lina pulled Kakashi towards her and leaned her head against his chest, closing her eyes. She smiled as she felt him hold her in his arms.

"How about I train with you in the afternoon? We haven't trained for about two weeks, so we'll need to make up for lost time." Kakashi spoke into Lina's hair, feeling her nod against him. Pulling back, Kakashi lifted Lina's chin up and pecked her sweetly on the lips, his mouth still covered by cloth. About to move away, Kakashi smiled as he felt Lina pull him back in for a longer kiss. Lina pulled down Kakashi's mask, knowing that Katsumi wasn't anywhere in sight, and slowly deepened the kiss. Giggling, Lina squeaked as she felt Kakashi lift her up onto the counter top, making them level, and she grinned as she felt Kakashi chuckle into the kiss. After a long moment, they finally pulled away, Lina's face newly red and scratchy from Kakashi's incoming beard. Smiling, she traced a hand up and down his jaw, feeling the prickliness of the hair against her palm.

Looking into Lina's eyes, Kakashi's gaze softened and he leaned in to peck her lips softly. Just as he was about to say goodbye, there was a knock on the door. Turning, Lina and Kakashi went into the living room, watching Katsumi open the door to reveal Tsunade and the two Elders, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura.

"Tsunade-sama." Everyone bowed to the Hokage, bowing as well to the Elders. Koharu glanced around, and noticed Lina. Stepping forward, she said, "Sasaki Lina."

Lina stepped forward, and stared at the ground. As a young girl, raised to be the head of the clan, she'd met with the Elders multiple times. She and Koharu never quite saw eye to eye, arguing over how untraditional Lina was, something that Koharu despised. But through her years of training, Lina had developed a level of diplomacy that allowed her to grit her teeth and bear with the, in her opinion, outdated rules. Now, Lina awaited her tongue-lashing.

"Sasaki Lina, you insolent girl! You leave the village for 12 years. _Twelve_ years! Was it worth it? Was leaving worth the pain you caused your parents, the disgrace you brought to your clan-"

"Koharu. Enough." Homura stepped in, stopping his partner from saying any more. He looked down at the girl, taking in the changes in her that had been made in the past decade. She'd matured. Still petite, but she definitely gained an air around her. She was no longer the young little girl who used to run up to him to give him a hug. Well, maybe.

"Lina-chan." Homura watched Lina's head fly up, her eyes alight with remembrance.

" 'Mura jii-chan?" Lina spoke in a voice just above a whisper. Homura smiled, remembering how he and her grandfather had sat on the back porch watching her play. Opening his arms, Homura said, "Come here."

Smiling, Lina walked into Homura's arms, hugging him tightly. He'd been an old friend of her grandfather's, and hugging him now made her feel like she was hugging_ him_. Just like the good old days.

"Mitokado Homura, you spoil that girl far too much." Koharu spoke harshly, mildly ruining the happy reunion. Dropping her arms, Lina turned to Koharu and bowed her head again in apology. After a heartbeat, Koharu walked to her and placed a hand under the girl's chin, lifting it up to meet her gaze. She could see that the years had not been kind to the once-vibrant child, but she could also see that the light was still in her. Sighing, Koharu said sternly, "Lina, you are now the head of the clan, correct? Don't lose your focus." It was as close a welcome home as Lina would get, but she smiled nonetheless, nodding.

"Hai, Haru baa-chan."

"Koharu-sama. Homura-sama." Katsumi and Kei stepped forward, bowing low in front of the Elders, who nodded back. Neither had had as much experience with them as Lina, of course, so they used the formal titles. Tsunade, watching the scene, finally spoke.

"Kakashi, what are you doing here?"

Kakashi stepped forward, bowing again to the Elders, and said, "I was just dropping by to tell Lina that we have training in the afternoon." He skated over the other details, and the change in Lina's posture showed him that that was the right option.

Tsunade nodded. "Lina. As the head of the Sasaki clan now, you are the one we need to speak with." Lina's body stiffened and she nodded. "What is this about?"

"The funeral. We've waited until the flames died down, but now it's time to think about the funeral ceremony."

Lina took in a deep breath, feeling Katsumi and Kei do the same. Clenching her hands into fists, Lina nodded slowly. "A-alright. But I...I don't know what to do." She'd never really paid attention to funerals before, so she was lost. Tsunade nodded in understanding.

"It's fine. We can take care of everything, but you need to pick out the day, time, and means of burial."

"Means of burial? What do you mean?"

Tsunade sighed. "Would you like a single casket? Or three, one for each? They would be empty, or you could place the ashes inside each of them, since the bodies were burned up in the fire. You need to decide if you want caskets, and if you do, what type, and what the headstones will say, and the like." She spoke in a clinical voice, watching Lina slump. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Kakashi move restlessly, as if he wanted to hold the girl. _'So, they've got something going on, huh? Nice to see Hatake doing something other than stand around at the memorial stone.'_

Lina slumped at the idea of having to decide all of these things, but she nodded all the same. It was her duty, and she had to do it, regardless of how hard it was to think of such things. Looking up, she said, "I will decide everything as soon as possible. Is there a deadline?"

Tsunade nodded. "Well, it's best if we can get this done within two weeks, no later. It's always best to move on with these things." Watching Lina nod, she nodded back. "Good. Also, after the funeral, preferably on the same day, we will need to go through the leadership inauguration ceremony for inducting you as the new leader of the Sasaki clan. Koharu and Homura will officiate. The only problem is, we need the crown and tiara. Lina, do you know what I'm talking about?"

Lina nodded, visibly distressed. "But, Hokage-sama, they were in the main compound. A-at least, they were if my father's safe is still there. And since the fire burned down everything…"

"They're not there." Kei cut in. Everyone turned to look at him as he explained. "A few years ago, Otou-san decided that having the safe in the main compound was too open, so we decided to move it to one of the lesser compounds, further into the Sasaki land. That way, if we ever got broken into, no one would be able to find anything based simply off of the assumption that we would keep everything closest to us."

"You know where it is?" Tsunade addressed the boy, and he nodded. Turning to Lina, he said, "I'll take you to the safe. Otou-san, okaa-san, and obaa-san's wills should be in there too. Only Tsumi-nee and I know the seals, but we'll teach it to you." Lina nodded, relieved. She was a little perturbed by the fact that he was speaking all of this out in the open, with non-family members around, but seeing as it was the Elders and the Hokage, she couldn't really complain.

"Good. Then, come to me when you have everything ready, and I'll start arranging the funeral then." Tsunade turned and left, Koharu and Homura following her after the latter gave Lina one last hug.

Letting out a deep breath, Lina walked to the couch and collapse on top of it, placing her face in her hands as she slumped over her lap. She felt Kakashi sit down beside her, a hand on her back, and she groaned, leaning back into the couch. Kei and Katsumi watched their sister be comforted by Kakashi, and they looked at each other. Walking up to the pair, the siblings sat around Lina, Katsumi on her other side, leaning her head on her older sister's shoulder, and Kei on the floor, leaning his head on her legs.

After a long moment, Lina snapped her eyes open and sat straight up, clapping her hands twice. "Alright! Enough depression! We need to snap out of this. Kakashi, you said you had to go do something, so go. Kei, Tsumi, you two show me where the safe is so we can get the things we need, and then you two will go down to the training fields to train with each other. Just because mom's not here doesn't mean you're allowed to slack off on your Sasaki training. Help each other out. In the meantime, I will see if I can make some more headway on how to seal the damned fire. In the afternoon, Kakashi, you come by and pick me up, and we'll train. Got it?" She looked around at the people sitting next to her expectantly.

Kakashi stared at her for a moment before he chuckled and nodded. "Alright, that's a good attitude. I'm going." Katsumi and Kei nodded, both also smiling, and everyone stood up. Walking Kakashi to the door, Lina pulled on his sleeve and softly said, "Come by a little early, and I'll make lunch." Kakashi looked down, surprised that he felt a small pang of unpleasantness inside of him. It seems that he wasn't quite over her pushing him away so easily just yet. Shaking his head, Kakashi said, "I'll get something to eat before." He wanted to clear his head so he could get back to being happy.

Lina watched his expression change, even if most of his face was behind cloth, and she furrowed her eyebrows. Placing herself between him and the door, she pulled him down to kiss him softly through his mask, both of them ignoring her siblings' stares and grins. Opening her eyes, she said quietly, "We'll talk." She watched him nod, and let him leave.

XXX

Lina sat down on her bed, holding an ornate wooden jewelry box in her hands. The trip to the compound had been, well, horrible. Seeing the ashes, the remains, everything ruined, wasn't Lina's cup of tea, and she and her siblings had paused to pay their respects. Luckily, the ANBU had immediately stepped aside after seeing them approach, and Lina wasn't sure if it was because of what she'd said to them days earlier, or if it was because the Hokage had allowed them to let the siblings pass. Regardless, she flashed them a grateful smile and walked into the ruined compound. After walking through what used to be their home, Kei pointed out where the safe's new location was, and he and Katsumi showed Lina the hand seals for opening it. Upon extraction, Lina immediately took out all of its contents, deeming it unsafe to have the contents here now that they'd visited, in case they had people watching them. Katsumi had protested, saying that their father wouldn't have picked this place if he hadn't thought it was safe, but Lina insisted that they be extra careful. They didn't know what was going on (she hadn't told them about Danzo), so there was no reason to assume that they were off the hook just because they survived the fire. And so, several files, 3 thick envelopes (which were most likely the wills of their lost family members), the box, and a smaller, postcard sized envelope was all brought back to their home before Kei and Katsumi left for training, leaving Lina to sort through the contents.

And here she was. She slowly opened the box, remembering the first time she'd seen it. It was her 16th birthday, after the party, after the guests had left.

_xxx_

_"Lina, come here for a moment. Your father and I want to show you something." Kiyoko called her daughter to her and her husband's bedroom, Hiro and Reiko waiting as well. A 16 year old Lina walked into the room with a bright smile, looking around._

_"Yes, mother?"_

_"Come. Sit." Kiyoko reached towards Reiko, who handed her the beautiful chestnut-brown jewelry box, and she placed it on the bed between her and her daughter. Opening it, she watched as Lina's eyes widened._

_"Oh, mother, they're so beautiful!" Two pieces sat on red velvet inside the box, a crown and a tiara. Reaching towards them, Lina paused and asked, "Can I?"_

_"May I." Kiyoko reminded her, and Lina rolled her eyes. "_May_ I…?" Kiyoko nodded, ignoring the jab. Lina lifted up the tiara, made of spun white gold, five-petal rose gold flowers elegantly placed around the band that dipped and intertwined in a point at the front. Beautiful lavender and bright red jewels lit up the already stunning piece with color, accentuating the flowers. Lina could see that the 'front' of the tiara would dip down onto her forehead, and a teardrop diamond would lay between her brows. The back of the tiara would circle her head, the flowers growing smaller as they reached the back, only to increase in size again as they went around the other side of her head._

_Looking up at her mother with shining eyes, she said, "It's so beautiful."_

_"And one day, it will be yours." Kiyoko said fondly. Lina carefully replaced the treasure back to its place and picked up the crown to examine it. Of course, the crown would be for a male heir. It too was made of white gold, a large diamond resting on the tip of the frontal spade, vibrant orange and light green jewels decorating the rest of the spades, along with tiny diamonds. _

_"Mine, okaa-san?" Lina questioned, having finished looking at the crown._

_"You will one day be the leader of the Sasaki clan. When you turn 21, you will go through the ceremony, I will place this tiara on your head, and you will become the new head of the Sasaki clan. Do you understand?" Satori spoke to his daughter, coming up behind his wife. Lina nodded reverently to her father, seeing her grandparents smile behind them. _

_"This is a huge responsibility. You will have to take care of the clan. Your leadership will be what defines us from then on. It will be your duty to expand the clan, keep relations with other clans, and never disgrace the Sasaki name, this village, or this country." Reiko spoke. Lina nodded. She understood._

_xxx_

"And here I am. Oh okaa-san, otou-san, I wish you could be the ones to give this to me. I'm so sorry." Lina whispered, tears pricking her eyes as she looked at the jewels in front of her. Softly touching the jewelry, Lina let out a loud sniff when she was startled by several knocks on her front door. Quickly closing the box and sealing it in a nondescript shoebox in her wardrobe, careful to seal the shoebox and then the wardrobe with a barrier each so that they couldn't be opened easily, Lina called out, "In a minute!"

Walking to the door, Lina quickly rubbed her hands over her eyes and smiled when she felt Kakashi's chakra outside. Opening the door, Lina smiled up at him. "Hi."

Kakashi looked down at Lina, noticing her slightly red nose and watery eyes. Frowning uncertainly, he said, "Hey. Are you alright?"

Lina shook her head and waved him inside. "Yeah, I'm fine, just got a little reminiscent, that's all. Did you finish what you were doing?" She felt Kakashi wrap his arms around her waist, pulling her back towards him, and she stilled, smiling.

Kakashi watched Lina turn back towards him, and he placed his chin on top of her head. "Are you sure you're alright?" He felt Lina nod and hug him tight. They stood there for a moment before Kakashi felt her pull away.

Lina led Kakashi to the couch, sitting down, and said, "I was going through the things I need to do. I need to get an invitation out to all the noble families in Konoha formally inviting them to the ceremony. Oh, but all the jounin in the village are welcome to come, it's just a formality to show respect to the other clans. So, that's the Hyuugas, the Inuzukas, the Aburames, the Yamanakas, the Naras, the Akimichis...oh, the Uchihas would have been one too...oh! And of course, the Hatakes. But then again, I've got one right in front of me. So, will this be enough of an invitation, or should I send out a formal request?" Lina asked teasingly. Kakashi smirked and shook his head.

"The Hatakes, as you put it, are hardly a clan, considering I'm the only one left, and even before my parents died, it was just us three."

Lina shook her head. "Are you kidding? Your father was the White Fang, and you are the Copy Ninja. Regardless of whether you're the only one left or not, I say that you're still a clan. In fact, that makes _you_ the clan leader." She poked his side lightly for emphasis and Kakashi squirmed away.

"Fine, you're right, I suppose."

"Good."

"So, what's the ceremony going to be like?" Kakashi knew that there would probably be a dress code, but other than that, he wasn't familiar with what would be happening.

"You'll see. It's...traditional. Oh, you'll need to dress up in a kimono. Just a heads up." Lina reminded him. Just thinking about him in a kimono made her smile.

"Got it." Kakashi raised an eyebrow as he watched Lina grin. "What?"

Lina shook her head. "Nothing." She giggled as Kakashi began to poke her side, soon outright laughing as he began to use both hands. "Ah, Kakashi, stop!" She squirmed under his finger, giggling, until he finally stopped as per her request. Catching her breath, Lina nudged Kakashi with her elbow and whined, "You're mean."

Kakashi chuckled, pulling a strand of her hair out of her face and tucking it behind her ear. Keeping her chin in place, Kakashi leaned in to kiss her softly, feeling her respond immediately. Slowly, they leaned back onto the couch, Kakashi crawling so that he was now the one straddling her. Pushing her into the couch, Kakashi kissed her harder. He felt her hands come up to touch his face, and in a second his mask was off. Lina pulled away, surprised, and looked up to see that Kakashi had shaved. Smiling slightly, she ran her hands down his face and said, "Smooth."

Kakashi looked at her and shrugged. "It was starting to itch under the mask." Lina nodded and pulled him into another kiss, opening her mouth so he could move his tongue in. She felt his hands fiddle behind her head, and felt her hair unravel again. Smiling, Lina pushed herself up off of the couch, turning Kakashi around, still kissing him, and pushed him down onto the couch, crawling on top of him. Sitting on his lap, Lina ran her fingers through his hair. Breaking away, she softly kissed the corner of his mouth, reducing the kisses to small pecks until she finally stopped. Panting slightly, Lina said breathily, "Training?"

Kakashi looked up at her, also feeling slightly breathless, and nodded. He felt her get up, pushing him down when he was about to get up as well.

"One second. I need to change into training gear. Give me a minute." Lina walked into her room, closing the door to change. She didn't expect him to come in after her, remembering how his expression had changed when she'd asked him to come for lunch. She had a feeling that he didn't fully forgive her yet, and she remembered that he'd said last night that he was still angry with her. But that was alright. He was giving her a chance, and that was more than she thought she'd get. So she was willing to wait, and to find a way for him to forgive her.

XXX

Once changed, they left the apartment and went down to the training fields, leaving a note to the younger siblings to remind them where she was. As they trained, Kakashi and Lina fell right back into their routine, starting with stretches and moving onto taijutsu before they worked on the Chidori. With their break up, Lina had ceased her training in Lightning style chakra, so they had to backtrack a little, but neither commented on that fact.

Soon, evening fell, and the two adults trudged back to their apartment building, exhausted. Separating at Lina's apartment, they left each other, feeling slightly awkward that they weren't going in together, but Kakashi didn't feel up to being so close to her just yet, and Lina didn't want to rush him, knowing that it was her fault. But as the evening wore on, Lina began to feel more anxious about where they stood in the relationship. If they were back together, if they were on probation, or if they were just friends. Sure, the evening before, they'd each admitted that they couldn't stand just being friends with each other, but having not defined anything, she felt like they were still hanging in limbo. That's why, after dinner, Lina slipped out of the apartment, not at all unnoticed by her siblings, and knocked on Kakashi's door.

"Hi." Lina looked up at Kakashi, who seemed surprised to see her.

"Hey."

"We need to talk."

"...Ah." Kakashi opened the door wider, allowing her to step in. She walked into the apartment, taking a seat on the couch.

Taking in a deep breath, Lina began. "Kakashi...I'm sorry I-"

"Lina, stop. I told you to stop apologizing. I'm over it." Kakashi reached out to her with his hand, stopping as he saw her pull away.

"No, Kakashi, I need to say this. I'm...sorry I broke us up, that I pushed you away, that I didn't give you an explanation. I'm sorry I can't give you one, even now. I'm just…I'm sorry." Lina spoke to her hands in her lap, unable to meet his gaze. After a beat of silence, Kakashi spoke.

"Are you done?"

Lina nodded. She stiffened as she felt Kakashi's hand on her arm. Looking at him, she heard him say, "We all have things that are our pressure points. I'm guessing this isn't just one of those 'I don't think I'm pretty' stories, right?" Lina nodded. Kakashi nodded in understanding. "It's important to you. I get that. I told you I would be patient if you promised not to run. So we're good, okay?" Kakashi rubbed circles into her arm with his thumb, watching her. Looking into Kakashi's eye, Lina swallowed and nodded, reaching up to hug him tightly. Sighing, she laid her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes as relief washed over her.

Reaching up, Lina softly kissed Kakashi's still-masked lips, her hands coming up to trace the edge of the mask before she pulled it down slowly. Kakashi reached up to pull her into a deep kiss, their mouths molding perfectly against each other. Gods, it felt good to hold her again. Holding her close, Kakashi pulled away slightly, placing kisses on her cheek, and said softly, "For the record, we didn't break up."

Lina stilled for a moment and pulled away. "What?" Kakashi reached up and nibbled on her lower lip, tugging slightly as he looked at her. "I said, we didn't break up. We had a fight, couples do that. That doesn't constitute a break up." He watched as a small smile formed on Lina's lips, and she leaned in to kiss him sweetly.

"We didn't break up." Lina tested the words in her mouth, liking the sound of them. She felt Kakashi nod, and she hugged him tightly, whispering, "Thank you" in his ear. Feeling him hug her back, Lina sighed as she finally relaxed. She smiled as she heard him speak.

"It's good to see you smiling again." Kakashi had never spoken truer words. Seeing her so upset about her family, as well as hearing her cry about their 'break up', he'd hadn't felt that bad in a long time. He felt Lina about to respond, but she never got the chance.

"Oi, Kakashi! Let's go out-oh!" Gai stormed into the apartment, startling the pair. Taking in the scene, he flashed them his brightest smile to date and said, "I see you took my advice and professed, eh Kakashi? I'll leave, please resume. Don't mind me."

"Wait, Gai, you don't have to do that. Um, you were saying something about going out? Kakashi, if you want, you can go." Lina said quickly, blushing slightly. She quickly slid off of Kakashi's lap and sat on the couch beside him, noticing that he wasn't replacing his mask. So Gai was one of the people who knew what he looked like. Interesting.

Kakashi placed an arm around her shoulder and said, "Why don't you come with us? We haven't been out together in a while." He watched Lina smile up at him, his gaze softening as he took in her red lips from kissing. Turning to Gai, Kakashi asked, "Where to? The bar?"

"Ah, actually, my adorable student Tenten and the rest of our students have decided to assemble in the club. Is that suitable for you?" Gai said, and Lina giggled. Oh, it was good to have him back as an overly outspoken friend. Turning back to Kakashi, Lina said, "The club sounds great. I'll go and change. Meet you there?" She pulled away, only to feel Kakashi pull her back.

Kakashi pulled Lina back into a slow, chaste kiss, grinning as he felt her squeak in surprise. Nipping her lower lip, Kakashi said, "See you soon." He smirked in amusement as he watched Lina blush and roll her eyes, not looking at Gai. Following her with her eyes until she closed the door, Kakashi then turned to Gai, raising an eyebrow as he said, "What?"

Gai stood staring at the two interact, feeling elated that his friends were happy again. Seeing Kakashi pull Lina back for a kiss, Gai's jaw dropped and he blushed lightly. Clearing his throat, Gai shook his shiny bowl-cut head and said, "Nothing." Leaving Kakashi like that, Gai turned and walked out, but not before looking back at Kakashi with a grin that said it all. _'Good going, dear rival.'_

Kakashi nodded in understanding, waving a hand as he watched his long-time friend leave. He'd wait in his apartment for a little while and then pick Lina up, surprising her. Picking up a worn copy of Paradise, he settled into his couch again, reading.

XXX

Arriving at the club together, Lina and Kakashi walked in, smiling as they saw Gai and Aoba talking. Immediately, they noticed a hush that came over whoever they passed, all the strangers watching them, several girls raising their eyebrows. Feeling the stares, Lina began to shrink back, clenching her hands, but in a moment felt Kakashi's hand on her elbow, squeezing gently. Looking up at him, Lina smiled and nodded, straightening up. It didn't matter what people said, if Kakashi didn't care.

"Lina-nee!" Tenten waved the two over, surprised but thrilled that her dear friend was happy again, and by the looks of it, back together with her friend's sensei. Smiling, she hugged Lina tightly, speaking into her ear. "I see you're back together, huh? That's great, Lina-nee. I'm so happy for you." She grinned at her adoptive sister, both of them sharing a small laugh before they sat down with Neji and Lee, both of whom seemed to have something to say, but neither saying anything. As the rest of the teens filed in, Lina turned to Kakashi, smiling as she felt him release her arm. She was fine now.

Turning around, she took a sip of her drink, only to choke and nearly spit it out at the sight in front of her.

"G-Genma! Oh my God what happened to your_ face_?!" Raidou and Genma had just walked up to the group, and Lina saw that Genma's face was heavily injured, a black eye and swollen lip destroying his normally relatively handsome face. (Come on, he was nice looking, but he was no Kakashi.)

Sighing, Genma sat down, shaking his head. Lina's eyes drifted over to Raidou, noticing that he was wincing as he took his drink from the waiter. Looking at his hand, she saw that he had day-old bruises around his knuckles. Glancing between them, she raised an eyebrow before she realized. Pursing her lips to try and keep from smiling, Lina shook her head.

"Oh, Raidou, tell me you didn't." The look on Raidou's face obviously told her otherwise, and she let out a small chuckle. Turning to Tenten, who was currently sitting beside her talking to Ino, Lina said, "Tenten, could you switch spots with Genma? Please?" They quickly switched spots, Genma looking surprised. Reaching into her t-shirt sleeve, Lina pulled out a mini-scroll that she kept handy, just in case. Opening up the third seal, she summoned a healing salve, and motioned Genma to lean forwards. Talking to Raidou, Lina began applying the salve on Genma's face.

"Here, Genma, hold this. Raidou, thank you, for this. Really, it was incredibly sweet of you to do that, but you really didn't have to. See...when Genma here said and acted the way he did, even I didn't say anything. And what he was saying and acting was about _me_, not anyone else. So, as sweet and adorable as that was, please don't hit someone like that again. Not over me." Lina smiled as she spoke, her eyes flickering over at Raidou as she applied the ointment. Looking back at Genma, she pulled away and said, "There. That should do it. Rinse it away when you go home tonight, and you should be good again tomorrow." She re-sealed the jar into her scroll and replaced it in the hidden band around her arm under her t-shirt sleeve.

"Hey, Lina…?" Genma ventured, embarrassed. Lina looked back at him. "I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it the way it sounded." Lina stared at him, surprised, before her gaze softened. Smiling slightly, she shook her head. "I'm sorry it got you hurt so badly. Honestly, Raidou, did you have to hurt his face? It's about the only part of him that I actually find tolerable." She teased, flashing a smile at Genma, which he returned. Turning to Raidou, she reached for his hand, rubbing the remaining ointment on her fingers onto his bruises, shooting him a reprimanding look.

Finishing up, she unthinkingly rubbed the rest of the ointment on Raidou's fingers, saying, "This thing also acts as a moisturizer, so it's fine to put it on the rest of your hands. Here, give me your other one." Reaching for Raidou's other hand, Lina felt a faint touch on her arm, and looked down to see Kakashi's hand on her arm, as if to say, "That's enough." Looking up at him, surprised, Lina gazed into his intensely black charcoal eye and let out a small laugh despite herself. She let go of Raidou's hands and replaced hers in her lap, missing the smirk that crossed Genma's face as he shook his head in surprise.

"Hello there sir, would you like a drink?" A pretty little thing sashayed up to Kakashi carrying a tray with a few drinks, batting her eyelashes and giggling. Lina took in a deep breath and tensed up. Reaching for her own drink, Lina found her glass nearly empty.

Draining it, Lina turned to the girl and said evenly, "Actually, can I have one?" The girl threw Lina a cursory look and handed her a drink without speaking, lightly tapping Kakashi's shoulder in the process, making him turn around to look. Giggling softly, the girl pressed her hand on Kakashi's arm and said, "Oh, I'm so sorry, sir." Lina's eyes darkened, and turned to take another drink. But as she was about to take a sip, she felt Kakashi's hand come up under her chin and turn her head to him.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi asked, his eye only on her. Lina looked at him for a moment before she relaxed, realizing that his attention was on her, and not on the girl. Glancing at the girl, who seemed slightly miffed, Lina looked back at Kakashi and shook her head, smiling. She saw the outline of his lips under his mask turn upwards, and she reclined into her seat, drinking. Feeling Kakashi's arm come around her, Lina heard the girl sniff and walk away. Hearing a throat clear, Lina looked up to see Genma stand up. "Uhhh...I'll be back." He walked off, following the girl, and Lina shook her head, moving in closer to Kakashi.

"Look at how my dear rival shows his emotions. So hip! So cool! This, THIS, is YOUTH!" Gai spoke loudly, clapping a hand on Lee's back, pointing to Kakashi, manly tears streaming down both of their faces as the rest of the group grimaced. Well, except for the girls.

"Aw, look at you two!" Tenten squealed, watching her sister and her sensei snuggle (in her opinion). Grinning, she said, "Sorry, Kakashi-sensei, but could us girls steal Lina for just a minute?" Without waiting, she took hold of Lina's hand, tapping on the other girls' shoulders and gesturing them to follow her. Giggling, Tenten led the girls to another corner of the club, weaving through dancers before she finally stopped. Turning to Lina, she clutched the older woman's hand and said, "So? I see you guys are back together? Is everything alright?" Tiny glances at Sakura and Ino told Lina that the girls already knew what Tenten and Hinata did.

Rolling her eyes, she nodded. "We're good. I'm good."

"Oh, that's so great!" The girls squealed, surrounding Lina in a tight hug. With all of the younger girls being taller than her, Lina was effectively squashed between all of their bodies, not that she minded, much. Laughing, she shook her head and said, "Come on."

"Look, look! She can't even stand to stay away from her _boyfriend_!" Ino teased, and Lina shushed her, grinning. While she liked that idea, the real reason was so that girl, or some other girl, wouldn't come and swoop in on him while she was away.

As they sat down, the girls giggling as Lina settled back into Kakashi's still-waiting arm, Ino asked, "So, what happened between you two? None of us really got the details-OW! Forehead!" Lina turned to the girls and chewed on her lip. "It was my fault, I was stupid, and over-reacted, and-"

"And it's over now." Kakashi finished, and Lina smiled.

"Right."

"Oh, look! What do we have here?" Anko's loud voice rang out, and the group turned and shuffled to let the woman in. Grinning, she waved at Lina, raising an eyebrow at Kakashi's arm around her. "Look at you, Hatake, being all monogamous. How sweet."

"Anko."

"Anko, hey! How's Kurenai? I'm sorry, I haven't been to see her in a few weeks, she must think I forgot all about her." Lina said guiltily. Anko waved her apology away.

"Nee-san!" Lina turned her head to see Katsumi and Kei walking into the bar. Setting down her drink, she said, "Tsumi, Kei, what are you guys doing here?"

"What, you think you're the only one who can drink?" Katsumi said loftily, taking in the crowd. Taking a sip of her drink, she spotted Genma walking back to the group and nodded. "Hey, Genma."

"Katsumi. Hey." Genma greeted her, giving her a winning smile despite his injuries. She raised an eyebrow at his face. "What happened to you?"

"Ah, not much, just got into a scuffle. Why, does it turn you on?" He leered at her.

"Oh my God no. Genma, you get away from my sister, and Katsumi, you stay away from that perv. Oh Gods, tell me you guys haven't-" Lina said, her eyes wide. There was no way Genma was getting his hands on her sister. Uh uh.

"Ew, no, nee-san! I have _standards_!" Katsumi exclaimed, both sisters ignoring the "Hey!" Lina shook her head, relieved that her sister's chastity was still safe, at least from Genma.

"For your information, you have no right to call me a pervert when you're sitting next to the second-biggest one in all of Konoha." Genma grouched, and Lina grinned. Turning to Kakashi, she laid a hand on his chest and said, "Well, yeah, but he's _my_ pervert. Whereas you...you're a creep."

"Ouch." Genma pretended to be wounded, but Lina just rolled her eyes.

XXX

The evening wore on rather uneventfully, the group talking and chatting. Lina and her siblings answered the group's questions about their family fire, all of their friends expressing their sympathy, but the siblings just wanted to not think about, so the rest of the group moved on. But soon, the conversation switched to the recent tragedy of Jiraiya's death, after Lina noticed that Naruto wasn't with them. Hearing Sakura talk about Naruto's relationship with the renowned author and Sannin, Lina felt a pang of hurt in her, feeling for the boy. She knew how much it hurt when you lost someone close to you. Looking at Kakashi, she noticed he was particularly subdued during that part of the conversation, but she decided to wait until they were alone before she drew attention to that. Katsumi and Kei eventually left the group, searching for their own friends and crowd, but not before bidding their sister a good night.

As the evening finally ended, the group separated into small groups and pairs as people walked each other home. Lina took the opportunity to grab Raidou and pull him down into a hug as she hurriedly thanked him again for punching Genma for her. Smiling, she walked back to Kakashi, not noticing the watchful look he had on. Entering the apartment building, they slowly reached Lina's apartment. Slowing to a stop, Lina tentatively asked, "Would you like to come in?" She watched Kakashi nod, and she smiled, leading him in.

They sat on the couch, Lina pouring some tea for them both. She sat back and watched Kakashi, seeing his face slacken as he apparently thought about something. Touching his thigh, Lina asked, "Kakashi? What are you thinking about?"

Kakashi set down his tea cup and sighed, his mask hanging off of his neck. He turned himself so that he was facing her rather than not, and said, "I was thinking about Jiraiya." He stretched an arm on the top of the couch.

Lina nodded in understanding, scooting in closer and tucking her legs in to give her a bit of a lift, raising herself to meet Kakashi eye to eye as she propped an elbow on the couch. "Ah. Yeah, I feel bad for Naruto." She watched his reaction change, noticing his eye darken. Tentatively, she placed her hand on Kakashi's arm, stroking it gently. "Kakashi? What is it?"

"I'm just worried about him. He took it pretty badly, even blamed Tsunade-sama for it." Kakashi explained how Naruto had found out, and Lina nodded in sympathy. "I feel like he needs someone to talk to. I was thinking of getting Shikamaru to talk to him. They're the same age, plus Shikamaru went through the same thing when Asuma died. Well, not quite, but he knows how it feels, and he'll be able to say the right thing."

"Why don't you do it?" Lina asked. "Ahh, no, sorry! I just realized how that sounded, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I meant, well, you're Naruto's sensei, his teammate, and I'm sure he thinks of you as a friend too. I would've thought that you'd want to say something."

"No, it's a valid question. I feel like right now, Naruto needs someone like Shikamaru, who's his age, and who lost his sensei recently. I lost my sensei when I was pretty young. Naruto'll probably be able to relate better to Shikamaru than me. Besides, yes, he sees me as a friend, but I'm more of a sensei/teammate to him." Kakashi explained.

Lina nodded. "Are you okay?"

Kakashi looked at her. "Me? Yeah, why?"

Lina shook her head. "Well, I got this thought in my head just now. Now, I'm not saying that you should feel this way, or that you shouldn't, for that matter. I'm just saying, that if it were me, and I were you, I'd feel pretty bad, being so helpless that I couldn't help my student when he was hurting so badly. Are you feeling like that?" She watched Kakashi shake his head, and she nodded. "Good." But upon further inspection, she noticed that he wasn't looking at her. Sighing, she said, "Did my saying that make you start feeling that way?" Kakashi nodded slowly.

Lina nodded and moved her hand up to stroked Kakashi's hair. "Right. Of course it did. Sorry." Kakashi leaned into her touch, dropping his head onto her upper arm that still rested on the couch, his arm coming down from its place atop the back of it to wiggle in the space between her and the couch, his hand ending up on her hip. Kakashi closed his eye, just feeling Lina stroking his hair. How did she _do_ that? Make him let his guard down _so_ easily?

Lina wiggled closer to Kakashi, moving his head from her upper arm to her shoulder, wrapping an arm around his shoulders while stroking his hair with her other hand as she thought of Naruto and Jiraiya. Poor Naruto. Poor Tsunade. Another one of her oldest friends was dead, leaving her as the last Legendary Sannin alive. Jiraiya. _The_ Jiraiya, was killed by Akatsuki. And they were after Naruto. Lina had a bad feeling that something terrible was coming. Akatsuki had killed Asuma, one of the Twelve Guardian Ninjas, and now Jiraiya, one of the Three Sannin. If they came to Konoha, Lina was sure it wouldn't just be one or two deaths that resulted. Would they be able to protect Naruto? What would happen if the Kyuubi was taken? What would happen to Naruto? To the village? Lina knew that these questions were also running through Kakashi's mind. How could they not be, since he was his student? Lina hugged him tighter, turning her head to bury her nose in his hair, closing her eyes as her hands slowly stilled. They sat on the couch, each consumed in their own thoughts, thankful that they had each other again.

-end

Author's note: whew! They've finally gotten things settled! Sort of…at least they're happy again! I know, the talking on the couch part, where Lina apologized was a little anti-climactic, but they're 30 years old (well, she's 29, and he's 31, but still). They've gone through all the teen angst crap, for the most part, so they're now viewing each other as adults. Hence the talking. Very...mature. Ne?

Poor Genma got beat up by Raidou, but isn't that so sweet! But Lina can fight her own battles. Girl power! XD Lol oh, the beginnings of jealousy rearing its ugly head :P

So this chapter ended up being longer than I expected it to be. I don't know, when I was jotting down ideas for the chapter, I guess I didn't figure that the scenes would take so long to develop. Ah well, now you can't complain that the chapters are too short, right? :P

I know, I left the chapter on a bit of a bittersweet note, but the next one is NOT going to be Pain invasion. The one after THAT one will be, though. So, I will be post one more chapter before I go on my vacation. Yes, I do realize that I've pushed 3 chapters when I'd normally only write 2. Take it as my going away present to all of you lovelies, especially to** Helli** and **Anuxamurane**. One more chapter of fluff/possible bittersweetness, and then I'm gone for a few days.

Just a heads up for the next chapter, it is super super long. I'm halfway done in writing it, and then I've got to edit it, but atm, it's already heading towards the same length as the other longer chapters (I think the longest word count was in the 20k? Something like that. No, wait, I just checked. Holy cow, chapter 22 was over 29k?! O.O)

**Thank you for all the reads and for the review, Helli! The rest of you readers, please, please review! I really do want to hear from you guys, please please please? **


	26. Author's Note

Hey all! Alright, I know I said I'd have another chapter up for you, but it's now...nearly midnight, and I'm not done writing it. I'm leaving tomorrow to go on vacation, and I'll be back on the 29th. I promise, i'll have the chapter I owe you up ASAP! I'm so sorry guys, really. But I'll be back soon, and I'll write more. If I don't...well, then I probably died in flight :P lol I probably shouldn't joke like that, but I'm in a crappy mood right now. Family drama, all that sh*t, and I'm mad enough to scream at someone. Worst part is, I'll be flying with the people I'm currently have drama with. So yeah...wish me luck! You guys and this story are truly the only reason I'm not flying off the handle.

Love always,

Chibi Hina-chan x


	27. Chapter 26 part 1

**Something I wanted to mention, just cuz it's somewhat relevant to the story: right after the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime, the Pain arc starts. Now, I personally want to develop more of the Lina/Kakashi/rest of the gang's relationships, so I'm stretching the time frame just a bit. Pain invasion won't come for a few chapters.**

As always, please review, comment, write something! I'm dying to know what you guys think. Ja ne! ;)

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. I do, however, own any original ideas or characters (such as Sasaki Lina) that I have created.

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Sasaki Lina is 29. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: **the Pain arc is still going to happen, I'm making Sasuke come back too, but Shinobi Alliance arc is still going to happen, as well as anything that didn't directly involve him in the anime/manga.** I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?)

_**PLEASE REVIEW! COMMENT, ANYTHING! THANKS :D**_

_*****This chapter's gonna be a long one. Lots of things to cover, and I'm fast-forwarding through, so that we don't get stuck in a day by day account of Lina's life. I hope you like it!*****_

_*****EDIT: I'm splitting the chapter in 2 parts, uploaded 2 days after the other. Reason is there's a lot to cover, and it'll be information overload*****_

_**Chapter 26 part 1**_

Several days went by, and daily life slowly resumed despite the widespread news that Jiraiya was now dead. After being asked to decode a message, and unable to do so, Kakashi asked Shikamaru to speak to Naruto, worried, as the boy had been depressed for several days. As it happened, Lina visited Kurenai on the same day that Shikamaru decided to speak to Naruto.

"Kurenai! It's Lina." Lina called out, finding the door open.

"Lina! Oh, it's so good to see you! Goodness, where have you been? How are you? I thought you'd forgotten about me or something." Kurenai gave the younger woman a big hug and Lina smiled. Walking Kurenai to her hospital appointment, Lina filled her in on most of the details of her life, leaving out the less savory ones about Kakashi. Kurenai told Lina all about the pregnancy, how the decorating for the baby's part of the room was going, etc. The two women talked and caught up as Kurenai got checked out by a nurse.

They walked out of the hospital, Lina holding Kurenai's bags for her and holding her arm, and found Shikamaru and Naruto standing outside waiting.

"Shikamaru." Kurenai said, surprised. Lina smiled at the two boys, noticing Naruto looking slightly confused.

"Ahh! Kurenai sensei! W-Why are you in the hospital? Ohhh, did you eat too much barbeque? That's why your stomach is so big, and now you're sick, right?" Lina rolled her eyes at Naruto's...well, Naruto-ness. Shikamaru smacked Naruto over the head.

"Idiot! She's pregnant, not fat or sick!"

"Ehhh...pregnant…" Naruto said, surprised. Lina nodded at the boys and helped Kurenai walk home. Hopefully Shikamaru would talk to Naruto and help convince him to break that code that Kakashi was talking about. She didn't know the boy well enough to feel comfortable giving him advice, but she really felt for him. From what she knew, Naruto had really bonded with Jiraiya.

XXX

The rest of the week went by in a blur. With Lina worked to the bone with training, funeral preparations, leadership inauguration ceremony preparations, and researching the modified fire seal technique, it was amazing she was awake by the time the week ended.

Training was progressing slowly, but Kakashi reminded her that she should think of it as 'slowly progressing' rather than 'progressing slowly'. Not that it made much of a difference in her mind. She still couldn't even form a Chidori in her hands, let alone use it. By the end of her training on Saturday, Lina was so frustrated that she let loose such a large wave of lightning that it tore down half the training ground, her chakra depleting almost completely in that one bout of rage. Sinking to the ground, Lina felt Kakashi catch her and carry her into the shade, sitting next to her, before she closed her eyes in exhaustion, her head sinking into his shoulder. After receiving a harsh warning from Kakashi, Lina begrudgingly continued her training the next day.

In the meantime, the funeral preparations were made. While everyone who wished to attend was welcome, and there was a formal announcement to note this, Lina still sent out formal requests to all the traditional clans. The day arrived, and Lina dressed in a plain black dress, linking her arms with her siblings as she watched the Hokage speak. The Hokage always spoke when a prominent figure in the village or one of the clans' important members passed away. As she finished speaking, Tsunade motioned for Lina and her siblings to step forward. Standing tall and dry-eyed, the three siblings walked up to the three mahogany caskets, each of them carrying three blue tulips, one for each member that had passed.

Lina didn't know why she'd picked the color blue for the flowers that she and her siblings would hold, it just seemed fitting. Blue reminded her of a clear sky, which would then remind her of all the happy days she'd spent with her family, playing outside on beautiful sunny days. Of course, blue also reminded her of water, which happily tied in their clan's powers. The three siblings walked in a line from right to left, Lina at the head, followed by Katsumi, and then Kei. They each placed a blue tulip atop each casket that held an urn full of the person's ashes, bowing their heads in prayer for each soul that had been lost. Walking off to the side, they watched as the rest of the guests picked up white tulips and dropped them in vases laid out in front of the caskets. The guests slowly filed away, murmuring their condolences as they passed the siblings. Amidst the crowd, Lina saw Kakashi pay his respects for the people he'd never met formally. Coming up to her, Kakashi didn't say anything, simply gazing at her. They shared a small moment of understanding between them, and Lina felt him move to stand behind her, waiting for her.

The Hyuugas, Hiashi, Neji, Hinata, and countless other members that Lina didn't know came and spoke to the siblings. Hiashi shook her hand a little stiffly, quietly reminding her that she was now the eldest. Neji nodded to the three, not saying much, while Hinata hugged her and her siblings. As they moved on, the Inuzuka clan approached, Kiba standing awkwardly as Akamaru whined, Hana and Tsume giving the siblings their condolences. Lina patted Akamaru on the head, smiling sadly, and watched them move on. The rest of the clans slowly passed the trio plus Kakashi, each conveying their sadness at the losses. The Nara clan's Shikaku also mentioned that her family had known that she was going to become a jounin, and that her parents had been so proud of her. Tears pricked Lina's eyes as she heard, but she kept them in her eyes rather than allow them to spill out, and nodded in thanks.

The funeral finally concluded, and Lina and her siblings trudged back to their apartment, Kakashi walking with them. Wanting to get away from all the death, Lina asked him if Naruto had figured out what the code Jiraiya left him had said.

"Yeah, we figured it out. 'The real one is not with them'." Kakashi explained how they'd come to that code decryption, and Lina laughed, the sound sounding odd on the day that she was burying her family. Ignoring her siblings' shaking heads, Lina grinned up at Kakashi and said, "Ooh, next time you should read Icha Icha to me." She loved that Kakashi was embarrassed about reading the book out loud in front of Naruto of all people. The boy had spent nearly 3 years with the author of that book, what was there to be embarrassed about?

Kakashi chuckled, still blushing, his fingers now intertwined with Lina's and nodded. "We could do that." Looking up, Kakashi noticed that they'd arrived at Lina's apartment. Shooting the pair a glance, Katsumi and Kei slipped into the apartment, Kei saying, "Don't take too long, you two." He promptly received a smack on the head from Katsumi, both of them giggling.

Lina rolled her eyes and turned to Kakashi. It was now early evening, and she had no more plans for the rest of the day. She trailed her fingers up Kakashi's chest and said softly, "What to come inside?" She wasn't sure what she wanted to accomplish with him in her apartment when her siblings were as well, but she knew she didn't want him to leave just yet. She watched Kakashi shake his head, and small wave of disappointment went through her.

Kakashi grabbed Lina's hand and tugged her towards his apartment. "I was thinking more along the lines of you coming to my place." He watched a small smile form, and he turned to open the door.

They walked into Kakashi's apartment, sitting down at the kitchen table. Kakashi, watching Lina's expression turn thoughtful, asked, "What are you thinking about?"

Lina shook her head. "Just thinking...Kakashi, I need to ask you something. It's important, and you can't tell anyone that you know." She waited for confirmation before she continued. "I need you to tell me more about...Shimura Danzo." She watched Kakashi stiffen, his now-unmasked face clenched.

"Why?"

"Tsunade-sama said the fire wasn't an accident, and she asked me to ask you about him. Who is he, Kakashi?"

Kakashi took a moment to process the information before he sighed. He explained the difference between ANBU and ANBU ROOT, telling Lina that Sai was a part of the latter. He told her how Danzo's views often opposed those of Tsunade-sama, and how he was much more logic-based and militant than the Third had been. Aside from that, there was very little that even Kakashi knew, but the information he gave her was already enough. Lina finished listening to Kakashi's explanation, and she slumped into her seat, her face in her hands.

She felt Kakashi reach over to touch her hand, and she raised her head to fake a small smile at him. After a moment, she heard him say, "Come here." Lina walked over to his side, and she felt him pull her down until she was sitting on his lap, her back against his chest. Encircling his arms around her, Kakashi rested his head against hers. She'd had a long day, with the funeral, and now learning about a man who was quite possibly the reason for her family's deaths. Kakashi wondered how she was not storming out to kill the man herself. He felt her move against him restlessly, and he knew that she was starting to become agitated. He waited for the outburst to come.

"Why is he after my family? Or me? Gods, what if he hurt my family to hurt me?" Lina shuddered at the thought that she was the target, and her family was just collateral damage. Kakashi squeezed her tightly.

"Stop thinking like that, we don't know that. In fact, we don't know anything, at this point. All we know is that Tsunade asked you to be careful around that man. That doesn't mean he's part of this. It could be something else entirely." But as he said it, even he could tell that he didn't mean it.

He felt Lina sigh into him and turn her head to kiss his jaw softly. Adjusting himself, Kakashi captured her lips in his own, returning the kiss. Slowly turning further around, Lina continued kissing Kakashi, her hands coming up to rest on his shoulders. She didn't know what to make of all this information. On one hand, she wanted to drag the man into interrogation and make him tell her what the hell was going on. On the other hand, she just wanted to forget, for just a moment, and to just feel. The latter of the two thoughts prevailed.

Lina lifted herself up slightly, sitting back down on Kakashi's thighs, and wrapped her legs around the back of the chair they sat in. She soon felt Kakashi's kisses become more urgent, deeper, stronger, and she sighed into him, her chest smashed against his by his arms. Kakashi broke away from the kiss, pecking and nibbling his way to her neck, his hands already wandering. They hadn't done anything further than kiss, but after two weeks of not touching himself, to have her back in his arms, he wanted to hold her again, in the most physical way. But, at the same time, a part of his mind reminded him why they'd broken up. Would she let him take her to bed?

Lina felt Kakashi begin to move more purposefully, and she stilled, pushing him away slightly. "Wait...Kakashi." She shuddered, feeling Kakashi's lips on her sweet spot on her neck.

"Mm."

"Kaka-ah-shi, stop. I um...I haven't exactly prepped for this."

"Prep? What do you need to prep? The barrier?" Kakashi lowered his voice several octaves as he felt her tremble. His hands moved upwards, fingering her bra from outside her shirt, ready to pop it open, but Lina stopped him.

"Well, yes, but no. I uhh...I haven't really maintained myself." Lina wasn't sure how to tell him that she hadn't waxed herself _there_, and there was a very big possibility that he wouldn't like what he saw if he looked. But of course, Kakashi, master of reading underneath the underneath, knew exactly what she meant.

Coming back to her lips, Kakashi murmured against them, "I don't mind." Lina shook her head, pulling away. "No, Kakashi. I'm sorry, but not tonight." She kissed him sympathetically as she felt him groan into her, but she couldn't stop the smile on her face as she thought of how he still wanted her. Kakashi, on the other hand, had to remind himself not to push Lina too far. Reluctantly, he pulled away.

"How about later tonight?"

Lina shook her head. "Make it tomorrow, I'll still be a little sensitive from the...er...preparation." She felt Kakashi slump into her and she reach up to hold his head to hers, kissing him sweetly. "Sorry." She murmured apologetically and got up. Better to leave now instead of letting the tension build. She didn't want him to end up convincing her somehow. She'd rather be 'prepared' first.

XXX

The next morning, Lina woke up early, too early for her taste, and slipped out of the apartment. She'd been up all night, thinking of him. She'd said to wait until the next day. Well, it was the next day. Slipping out of her bedroom window, Lina chakra-walked around the building walls to enter Kakashi's building. Glancing into his bedroom, she could see that he was still sleeping, his face planted in his pillow. Smiling, she unlocked the window and crept into his room, giggling silently as she remembered their first night. She walked to his side, admiring his adorable sleeping face one last time before she woke him up.

Kakashi felt cold on his back. Odd, considering it was the middle of the summer, and he distinctly remembered having a blanket around him. Maybe it had been kicked off? He wasn't really a restless sleeper, but anything was possible. And then he felt a small touch on his neck, as if it were a lick. Zoning in on the feel, Kakashi felt it again, followed by a suck, and then a whisper. "Wake up." Opening his eye, Kakashi turned to see Lina hovering above him. Just as he was about to ask, she dived down to take his lips in her own. Okay, now he was awake.

Lina let out a surprised yelp and giggle as she felt Kakashi pull her onto the bed, rolling on top of her. Pulling away slightly, he said lowly, "Good morning." Lina grinned up at him and pulled him into another kiss. She was nervous, but she desperately wanted him more than her nervousness. So, she'd deal with it.

*Poof*

"Yo, boss. We're-oh, Lina-chan." Pakkun's gruff voice sounded out as eight ninken smokescreens appeared.

"Everybody! Hey, it's been a long time." Lina got up, pushing Kakashi aside as she blushed. Surveying the ninken, Lina's eyes twinkled as she found Guruko, Bisuke, and Shiba. Opening her arms wide, she said, "Come here guys, I've missed you so much!"

The ninken looked over at their summoner, making sure that he was alright with this. Upon confirmation, Bisuke let out a yip, and the dogs bounded onto the bed, happy to see their summoner happy again. The three dogs dashed to Lina's side, yipping and wiggling as they greeted her as the other ninken wagged their tails, staying at their summoner's side.

"Lina-chan, you're back! I missed you. What happened?" Guruko asked, sitting on her lap as Bisuke and Shiba got their ears scratched. Lina laughed and said, "I had some issues, but we've worked everything out. Let's talk about something else, ne?"

Kakashi groaned. He'd just woken up, ready to have fun, and now his boys were ruining it. He dragged a finger down Lina's spine, kissing her shoulder as his hands wrapped around her. Giggling, Lina turned her head to him, letting him kiss her jawline as she closed her eyes and sighed happily. After a moment, she turned back to the boys, slightly pink.

"Sorry, guys. Kakashi and I have some unfinished business to attend to. Pop by another time, mkay?"

"But Lina-chan…" Bisuke whined, digging his nose into her leg. Lina laughed and jerked her leg away from his cold nose, but shook her head.

"Nope, sorry." Lina absentmindedly stroked Kakashi's chest with her hand as she shook her head and spoke to the dogs. She felt Kakashi's chest rumble as he barked out a laugh when the ninken whined.

"Fiiiiine." Bisuke grumbled, and the pack prepared to poof away. They were all fine with watching their summoner and his mate (not matter what they said, they were definitely mates) cuddle, but they could see that Lina was holding back a bit.

"Oh, when you get back, could you tell Daisuke not to visit me? Tell him I'm good, and I'll summon him soon." The ninken nodded at Lina and 'poof'ed away, just in time to see Kakashi's hands tightening around Lina's waist. Lina turned back to Kakashi, feeling his hands moving around her. "Now, where were we?"

Kakashi kissed Lina deeply, his tongue dragging along her lips before he traced the inside of her mouth. Vaguely, he felt Lina turn around as her hands came up to pull the covers away from him so that they didn't entangle between them, and he felt his way down her body, remembering how she reacted to his touch, down to each and every jerk. Pulling her down onto the bed and bracing himself on top of her, Kakashi reached up from his place on her mouth to nibble on the tip of her nose, his mouth quickly moving on to kiss her cheek, lick her jaw, nip her ear. Kakashi moved further down, kissing her pulse, sucking on it as he felt it jump, before he began to undress her.

Lina felt Kakashi begin to tug her shirt up, and immediately following its removal, she began to panic. Throwing her arms around her chest, Lina opened her eyes and darted them away, reliving the night they'd fought. Kakashi, noticing this, softly kissed her wrists, her hands, her fingers, licking the skin of her chest that peeked out from the cracks between her fingers. He kissed her delicately, with unwavering patience despite his lust, and gently tugged at her arms, asking. Lina stilled, holding her breath for a moment before she was surprised when Kakashi turned her face to meet his gaze. She looked up at him, and fought to remember that Kakashi had not been the one to cause her insecurity, it wasn't him. Taking in a deep breath, Lina furrowed her eyebrows and let him place her hands at her sides.

With her bra still on, she didn't feel quite as nervous, but Lina still held her breath as Kakashi swept his eyes over her. Looking down at her, Kakashi made sure to show her exactly how he felt. Just seeing the way she'd reacted to the girl at the club before, had told him that he couldn't just say it. He had to show it. And so, kissing her deeply, Kakashi lifted her up slightly to unclasp her bra from behind, sliding the straps down her shoulders and arms. He felt her tug at his own undershirt, and lifted his arms for her to remove it, watching her fingertips graze his chest ever so lightly.

Lina tried to contain her emotions, wanting to prolong the feeling, but she honestly couldn't wait anymore. Pulling Kakashi into a deep kiss, she hurriedly unbuttoned his pants and pulled them down, her hands already diving into his boxers to remove those as well. Faintly, she heard him chuckle, and she whined. If he had time to laugh, he'd better start stripping her faster. Kakashi felt her squirm under him and took the hint. He'd only been holding back for her anyway. If she wanted it fast, she'd get it fast.

XXX

Tired, Lina and Kakashi lay on the bed, panting, their hearts thundering as they gulped in air. The sex was fast, hot, raw, and the perfect outlet for their emotions. Slowly, a grin formed on both Lina and Kakashi's lips. A deep chuckle fell from Kakashi's mouth, responding to the small giggle that Lina was unable to contain. The laughter grew and then died slowly, and they turned back to each other, exhilarated.

"That was…" Lina said softly, her lips swollen from being kissed a little too hard.

"...Yeah." Kakashi answered, his eye glittering with excitement. He watched Lina's chest rise and fall with her breathing, his hands already coming to enfold her into them again, this time much gentler. Lina snuggled up to him, her lips coming to kiss Kakashi's pounding sweat-soaked chest. The room was beginning to smell of sex, sweat, each of their individual scents, combining and mingling. Sighing, Lina felt Kakashi's hands come up to take apart her hair tie, and she giggled again. They'd gone at it so fast that he hadn't even had time to do what seemed to be his favorite thing. She felt him loosen her hair, his fingers combing through it, and she rolled back onto her back, tugging at the covers.

Kakashi watched Lina roll away, him still propped up on his side, his elbow and hand keeping his head up. With his other hand, he lazily traced Lina's jaw, watching her smile and squirm as the movement tickled her. Smirking, he let his fingers wander down her neck, down her upper chest, until it met the covers. He saw her tip her head forwards to see what he was doing, and with a tiny jerk of his hand, he revealed one of her breasts. Right away, Lina covered herself back up, crying out, "Kakashi!" He chuckled, watching her, and rolled onto his front, closer to her. Kissing his way down from her shoulders, Kakashi watched in satisfaction as Lina let go of her grip on the covers, watching him. Evidently the sex had boosted up her self-esteem ever so slightly. Giving her a deep, dark stare, Kakashi lowered his teeth to the covers that had once again covered her up. His eyes flickered back up to hers, making sure she was still watching before he grabbed the covers and twisted his head to reveal that same one breast again.

Bursting out into laughter, Lina watched Kakashi throw the cover partially off of her, looking very much like a wolf as he did. She gasped as she felt Kakashi's mouth close around her nipple, his tongue sliding across it, making her arch her back. She reached down to tug his chin up to kiss him sweetly, asking, "Again?"

"Again. Slower, this time." Kakashi answered. It was wonderful to be able to have her again, but he wanted to really feel her this time. He felt Lina nod in acknowledgement, and he began again. It was a good thing they trained to have high stamina.

XXX

Complete for the third (or maybe fourth) time, Lina collapsed on top of Kakashi's chest, spent. She sluggishly kissed his chest, her hands sliding and losing their grip on him as their sweat mingled. Lina looked up to see Kakashi watching her, and she smiled softly. Oh, it was good to hold him, to feel him, to appreciate him in the most basic way possible. She reached up to kiss him sweetly, raising her hips so that he slid out of her, the kiss growing. Kakashi turned them over, gently placing Lina on the bed, and slung his leg over hers, still kissing her. He felt her weave her hands into his hair, softly caressing the sides of his face as she kissed him deeply. Opening her eyes briefly, Lina looked up to see Kakashi's normally lazy charcoal eye now ignited from within. Smiling against his lips, Lina closed her eyes and kissed him further as she hummed in happiness.

Slowly, the kiss faded away, and their movements slowed. Kakashi rolled off of Lina, this time making her roll on her side to watch him. She trailed a hand down Kakashi's chest, not unlike how he'd done to her, but instead, she contented herself with stroking him. Laying like that for several tens of minutes, Lina softly said, "Bathroom?" She was quickly regaining her energy, and she didn't mind having another go. After all, they had some catching up to do. She watched Kakashi's face light up like a child, and she smirked before she giggled and poked him playfully.

XXX

Soon, it was time for Lina to take her place as the leader of the Sasaki clan. The invitations had been sent, the RSVPs had been received, and everything was ready. Lina knew the routine well, as did Tsunade, Koharu, and Homura. The day of the event soon arrived, and Lina found herself in a makeshift tent a little ways away from where the ceremony would be held, in a field with a nearby lake. The ceremony would be held on water, as it had always been done, but Lina had to prepare herself first. The appropriate attire, the proper mindset, everything had to be perfect. Normally, the grandparents would be with her, helping the heir get ready, but that wasn't possible in this case. Therefore, Koharu and Homura took it upon themselves to be the makeshift grandparents.

Lina sat in front of a mirror, fixing her hair and checking her makeup, as Koharu reminded her of the ceremony procedure. "Stand tall, head up, look straight. Don't look happy, but don't look too serious either. Look serene. You are a lady, and you are going to be a leader. Remember that."

"Yes, Koharu baa-chan."

Finally, it was time. Lina took out the beautiful box that kept her tiara. It was just a formality, she would never wear it again after this day, save for on her wedding day, if she lived that long. Still, Lina smiled as she took the tiara out of the box. Her furisode, a long-sleeved kimono that hung off of her wrists, just grazing the ground when her arms were stretched out, matched the tiara wonderfully. A light lavender color was the base, the hemline and sleeves adorn with rose-colored flowers, the same pattern creeping up one side of Lina's shoulders. Her hair was loose, soft waves curling against her face. She wore Souta's necklace underneath her clothing, despite Koharu's complaints that it didn't match, and she wore light lavender teardrop earrings that peeked out of her hair as she walked.

"It's time, Lina-chan." Homura spoke quietly, smiling at her through the mirror. Lina smiled back and nodded, standing up. Turning around, Lina held the tiara in her open-palmed hands and walked out of the tent, crossing the field onto the water. The furisode cut off just before reaching the floor, so there was no fear of getting it wet. Walking out, Lina forced her eyes to remain straight, her back tall as she walked slowly, elegantly, towards the lake, where Tsunade stood. She passed the crowd of guests, all standing to see her, and she felt a hush fall as she walked. There was music coming out, Hinata being capable of playing the piano beautifully, had been asked to play an instrumental piece.

Lina walked onto the lake, soon reaching the waiting Tsunade, who was dressed in her Hokage robes. Handing Tsunade the tiara, Lina kneeled in front of her on both knees on a small platform that had been provided.

"Sasaki Lina. It is my duty and honor to preside over this ceremony, a task that is originally meant for clan elders. With this tiara, you become the leader of the Sasaki clan. You become the protector of all those who follow you. You become the one that matters. Taking this tiara symbolizes your acceptance of this responsibility, as well as your vow to protect and lead those who follow you to the best of your ability." Tsunade's voice resonated throughout the field, and she placed the tiara on Lina's head. Rising, Lina felt Katsumi and Kei come up behind her. She turned around to face them.

"Lead." Tsunade spoke her last word of the ceremony, and watched Lina stretch out her hands for her siblings to take. This part of the ceremony could get tricky. The reason that Lina was to take her followers' hands was because it was a request for their submission to her. Tsunade remembered reading in her clan history classes that there had been times when the followers had not reached out to take the 'leader's hands, even metaphorically. If they were not accepted by at least half of the members, the 'leader' would be exiled and a new one would be picked.

Lina watched Katsumi and Kei reach out to hold her hands, both of them sinking to their knees. After a moment, Lina nodded, and she felt them let go of her, both of them standing and making way for her to pass. Walking forward, Lina walked towards the crowd of spectators, stopping so that Tsunade could formally introduce her as the leader.

Tsunade walked beside her and held her hand, saying to the crowd, "Sasaki Lina. The new leader of the Sasaki Clan."

Lina bit the inside of her cheeks to keep from smiling as she heard the Rookie Nine plus Gai's team burst out in enthusiastic applause, Kiba, Naruto, and Lee letting out wolf and catcalls. She wasn't supposed to smile while she had the tiara on. Then again, the ceremony was supposed to be very formal, and having people yelling, "Way to go, Lina!" wasn't exactly fitting that profile. Oh well. The noble families and several jounin that she knew walked forwards individually, issuing their congratulations. Genma and Raidou flanked Tsunade, the former nodding at Lina while Raidou flashed her a quick smile.

As the nobles dwindled away, Lina saw Koharu and Homura come up to her. Stifling a smile, she bowed to them both. They nodded back to her and spoke words of congratulations before they too moved on.

"Hey, Lina nee-chan! Thanks for inviting us!" Tenten said excitedly, the rest of the group crowding around. Lina smiled and nodded, ignoring what felt like Koharu's laser-beam glare aimed at her back. Lina spotted Kakashi hanging about, a little way away, and she quickly excused herself.

Walking over, she shyly smiled as she saw him get up from his leaning position against a tree. He was dressed in a navy blue kimono, the part covering his upper body slightly loose and sitting on the edge of his shoulders. Aside from his mask, Kakashi looked positively delicious, the robe acting as the perfect curve-definer, his body fitting perfectly into it, and the color contrasting with his light skin. Lina watched, entranced, as he walked out of the shade, towards her, and she blushed. Meeting him halfway, Lina shyly said, "Hi."

Kakashi watched Lina walk towards him. Actually, glide was probably the better word for it. The way she walked, it was as if she was walking on air. Like the lady that she was born and raised to be. Walking up to her, he smirked under his mask as he saw her blush at him. He heard her speak softly, and he teasingly said, "Hello, Lina-sama."

Lina's eyes widened as she heard him say that. Shaking her head, she said quickly, "Don't call me that. I'm Lina. Whether I'm the leader of my clan or not, I'm still me." For a moment she feared that he would refuse, saying that it was protocol.

Kakashi watched her shake her head, and he nodded in understanding. He'd only been teasing, but it was nice to know that she didn't take titles seriously. His gaze softening, Kakashi said, "You look very beautiful." No, beautiful wasn't the right word. Exquisite. Radiant. Ravishing. Those fit better, but he liked to let his body do the talking. He watched Lina's eyes widen in surprise before she smiled embarrassedly.

"Thanks." Lina spoke quietly, unable to keep from smiling. Turning around, she asked, "Are you heading home?" She'd wheedled Katsumi and Kei into bringing home all the supplies so she didn't have to. She and Kakashi walked home slowly, not saying anything.

As the new leader of a clan, it was her duty to walk through the village immediately after her coronation/inauguration. This walk was meant to show her of all the people she had sworn to protect. True, she was the leader of her clan alone, but the civilians and shinobi alike also counted on her as a leader to lead and protect them.

Lina tried to ignore the looks she received on the streets from the civilians, but she couldn't ignore the whispers.

_"Oh, what a beautiful pair! Did they just get married? She looks so young."_

_"That girl's kimono is exquisite, she must be from an important clan."_

_"But that man...isn't he Hatake Kakashi?"_

"Sorry, Kakashi. It looks like you'll be getting some odd rumors made about you because of me." Lina apologized, but Kakashi shook his head. "I don't really care." Lina smiled.

XXX

As the weeks went by, and slowly, months, Lina and Kakashi grew closer and closer. Rather than just having great sex, which they still did, they were now on the level where they could talk to each other about things. At first, it was hard, considering they were both pretty private people, but slowly, they were able to move past that. After Lina figured out how to seal Amaterasu into a scroll several weeks after the funeral and ceremony, she immediately went to the Hokage with the scroll-writing formula, and Tsunade ensured the girl that the information would be spread across all the shinobi in Fire Country that there would be no more casualties. True, writing the scroll would take time, but hopefully, shinobi would have several pre-written scrolls on hand when they were out and about, keeping them prepared.

As well, Lina asked Tsunade for more information about this Danzo person, but she hit a dead end. She wanted to ask Koharu and Homura, but given their bias towards him (or so she was told by Kakashi), she felt it would be unsafe. If word got back to him that she was asking questions, Lina knew that bad things could happen. She didn't know just how bad he was, but she had to prepare for the worst.

Around the same time, she received a summons from Morino Ibiki, the leader of the Torture and Interrogation unit. Apparently, Nara Shikaku, after reading her file on her last mission, the one with Kakashi, had decided that she should receive extra training in emotion-control. Lina asked Kakashi what he'd written, but she could guess. When they'd arrived back at the village, she'd been a mess. Going into hysterics was certainly not safe, and it was mentally unhealthy. So, Lina began taking sessions with Ibiki, working on her emotion control. The sessions were hard, but afterwards they always had a therapy session, where Ibiki was much less harsh, and much more understanding, exploring the reasons behind her outbursts. As a therapist, he assumed the same responsibility as any doctor, as he often reminded her, and so she could tell him anything, and he would not breathe a word to anyone save the Hokage, and only if necessary. Lina refused to discuss her past with him, and so, after the emotion control sessions were over, Ibiki reluctantly signed off on her ability to maintain calmness in the face of danger. After all, if she was able to keep control when he was putting stress on her, she was more than ready to handle anything out there.

XXX

Several weeks into their new beginning, Lina and Kakashi were in Gai's apartment, his team and their friends, as well as several other jounin also inside, including Kurenai. As the conversation began to dwindle, Tenten remembered something that she'd been meaning to ask.

"Nee-chan, you and Kakashi-sensei have been going out for, what, a month now? More, if you count before...well, anyway. What's it like to date the famous Copy Ninja?"

"I'll tell you when I find out myself." Lina said smilingly. It was true, they'd never actually gone out on that date she'd wanted, and here, she could get her revenge for that. Exactly as planned, Tenten was shocked.

"What?! You haven't gone out? What have you been do-wait, never mind, don't answer that. But gosh, Lina, I would've thought that you at least would want to go out! I remember when you and that guy...what was his name? Souta nii-san, your boyfriend when you were still in the village, you guys went out on dates all the time, and you used to tell me all about it." Tenten began to rant, and Lina smirked before she made a show of sighing.

"Well, it's not like I don't _want_ to go out on a date, but Kakashi just doesn't seem to want to take me out…" Lina snuck a look at Kakashi, shooting him a challenging look as she did the 'poor me' routine. Kakashi shook his head at her, but in the next moment was verbally assaulted by Tenten, Ino, Sakura, and even Kurenai.

"What?! Kakashi-sensei, how could you!" Sakura exclaimed, appalled at her sensei.

"Yeah! Seriously, with all the rumors going about you, I'd expect so much more romance! Jeez...what a disappointment." Ino said, disappointed. Honestly, with Kakashi being one of the most eligible shinobi bachelors before he met Lina, nearly every woman who spoke of him praised his courting abilities. Well, maybe not _courting_, but his charm was unchallenged.

"Maa, it's not like I don't want to go out. We just never did because we wanted to keep things quiet, and then...well, things just happened." Kakashi tried to explain, but Kurenai interrupted him

"Oh! I've got it! It's because you've slept with her, isn't it? That's why you don't want to go out on a date!" Kurenai teased, of course, winking at Lina to show it.

"That's right! Why would you, when you can skip the formality and go straight to dessert?" Anko roared in laughter, and the younger girls blushed at the thought (well, not Ino). Lina was fully grinning by now, as she watched Kakashi fumble, probably wondering how things got here.

"Maa-"

"That's it! You're taking nee-chan out on a date! We'll set it up! It'll be great!" Tenten decided, Ino backing her up.

"And sensei, you're paying for the date! I'll bet Lina-san pays for food whenever you two eat together, don't you?" Sakura said, knowing her sensei all too well. Lina nodded, shrugging. "I do, but only because I feel bad. I do it for everyone. See, I eat an awful lot, and since my portion is normally quite large, I feel bad for making other people pay for me."

"Yeah, but you shouldn't be paying for _him_ too!" Sakura insisted, and Lina shrugged again. She was used to it by now. Shaking her head, Sakura said, "Kakashi-sensei, you'd better hold onto her. She's fine with your Icha Icha obsession, she doesn't mind not going out on dates with you, she pays for your food, she's your perfect girl!"

Lina laughed, blushing slightly as she turned and felt Kakashi's arm wrap around her waist and his chin on her shoulder. Kakashi breathed out a laugh and said, "Thanks for the suggestion, Sakura. I'll keep that in mind."

XXX

A couple of days later, Lina found herself being primped and prepped for a date. Why she was being helped by the girls, she had no idea, but she suspected it was their way of playing with her like a doll. No matter how she wheedled or prodded for information, the girls refused to tell her where she was going, but seeing as she was dressed in formal wear, she was pretty sure the place must be high-class. She wore a long ankle-length black spaghetti strapped dress with a thigh-high slit at the front, revealing her toned legs (obviously, from being a shinobi). The upper hem dipped down into a sweetheart cut, revealing more of her than she liked. She'd worn clothing like this while in henge, but as herself? No way.

"Guys, this is too much! I don't feel comfortable showing off so much skin." Lina complained for the third time in a little under an hour.

"Lina, stop. You obviously have a great body, considering we're kunoichi, and it's part of our job description. Look, even Forehead dresses up sometimes, and her chest is so flat that she could be a man."

"Gee, thanks, Pig. But she's right, Lina-san." Sakura shot an annoyed look at Ino before she smiled at the older woman.

"Of course I am. Show it off." Ino stated yet again, fixing her hair as Lina squirmed in her seat. It felt so _odd_ to have four girls flitting around her, making her pretty. Tenten worked on her makeup, natural but sultry, as she put it, which kept Ino from butting in and making her into an Ino-look-alike, while Ino and Sakura worked on her hair, and Hinata helped her with accessorizing. By the end of it, Lina couldn't even recognize herself in the mirror. There was no way that she was the person staring back at her. That person actually looked...dare she say...pretty?

"Wow…" Lina said softly.

"Stand up and let's have a look." Ino said smiling, the girls standing back to give her room. Lina stood up in 6 inch black patent leather platform pumps and turned around, grateful that she was used to wearing high heels. Even if she henged into taller women, she was still in practice at wearing heels. Smoothing down her dress, she glanced up at the girls, a small smile going across her face as she saw the girls grin back at her.

"Lina nee-san, you look beautiful." Hinata said quietly, her eyes shining. Lina grinned down at her, now that she was actually taller than the girl, and said, "Thanks." The girls all turned to look at the door as they heard the doorbell ring. She took in a deep breath and reached out to open the bedroom door.

"Wait!" Lina turned her head to Sakura, who'd spoken out. "Wait here, we'll call you out."

"Oh, good idea, Forehead! Make a grand entrance, Lina." Ino winked, ushering the girls out, all of them ignoring Lina's rolled eyes. She smiled despite herself, butterflies now fully formed and flying about in her stomach. Gosh, the last time she'd been on a date was years ago! And what was with the clothing and makeup? Where were they going to, a ball?

XXX

"Naruto, why do I have to wear this thing? I hate ties." Kakashi tried to loosen the damned piece of cloth around his neck, feeling suffocated, only to have Naruto yank it back up again.

"Kakashi-sensei, Sakura told me to make sure you're dressed exactly the way she said. You stay put, or I'll be the one getting beaten up." Naruto fussed. Honestly, he didn't understand what the big deal was, but Sakura's death glare was not something to be taken lightly. Naruto rang the doorbell, hearing Sakura call out, "Coming!" from inside the apartment.

Stepping in, Kakashi resisted the urge to roll his visible eye as he was subjected to the scrutinizing of Ino, Sakura, and Tenten. Dressed in a black suit and a crisp white shirt and a red tie, Kakashi crossed his arms in front of his chest as he watched the girls circle him.

"Hmm...something's wrong." Sakura muttered, frowning.

"Um...I think he would look better without the tie." Hinata said sweetly, biting her lip as her eyes periodically flickered over to Naruto. Kakashi's hidden lips lifted into a smile that lit up his dark eye as he said, "You know, Hinata-chan, you were always my favorite." He grinned, watching her blush and stammer, throwing obvious glances at Naruto, who was obliviously trying to convince Sakura into telling him he did a good job.

"Fine, take it off. Let's see how it looks." Ino decided, and Kakashi sighed in relief. Whipping the blasted thing off of his neck and unbuttoning the collar, Kakashi stood a little taller. The girls nodded and looked at each other, smiling.

"Alright, it's time. Lina nee-chan! Come on out!" Tenten called, and the bedroom door opened.

Lina walked out slowly, holding a black satin clutch in her hands as she was careful not to trip. Looking up, she stopped in her tracks. "Wow." She spoke softly, her eyes only on Kakashi. Smiling softly, she walked closer to him, her smile growing as she realized that she was only around 6 or 7 inches shorter than him now.

Kakashi tried not to stare at Lina as she walked out, but damn. The girls had really dressed her up, she looked stunning. Her hair framed her face beautifully, her makeup was soft but perfect (he'd been afraid that Ino might go a little overboard, sculpting her to fit Ino's own personal, and rather dramatic taste, but it was perfect), and that dress. That dress, was incredible. He'd seen her body before, obviously, but in that dress, with the cloth parting ever so slightly to reveal her skin as she walked, it was as if she _meant_ to tease him. He watched her grow closer, noticing that she was several inches taller, and he said, "Right back at you. You look incredible."

Lina blushed, smiling. She watched Kakashi take her hand and very smoothly bring it up to his masked lips, kissing it. Shaking her head, Lina smiled up at him, her eyes shining.

"Alright, enough. You two are going to be late. Kakashi-sensei, do you remember the plan?" Sakura interrupted them, grinning at the pair. Kakashi nodded, and Lina started.

"Wait..._Kakashi_ knows where we're going? How come I don't get to know?!"

"It's a surprise. Relax and enjoy it." Kakashi murmured softly, and Lina pursed her lips, pouting slightly. "Fine."

They soon left the apartment, the girls and Naruto waving them off, and Lina threaded her arm into Kakashi's proffered one. Walking slowly down the street, she blushed as villagers and shinobi alike stopped and stared at them. "Kakashi, where are we going? And why are we dressed like this? People are staring."

"I told you, it's a surprise. And don't worry about the people, let them look."

They walked several blocks, just enjoying each other's presence. At one point in the walk, Lina saw several children chasing each other on the street. Smiling, she watched them turn towards her and Kakashi, eyes wide as they watched them walk on before they turned back to playing with each other. They seemed to be playing tag, Lina mused inwardly. As the children ran, several ran close to her and Kakashi, and all of the sudden, she felt a large bump on her side, knocking her off balance.

"Whoa!" Lina closed her eyes, braced for the impact of the ground, but felt nothing. Looking up, she saw Kakashi holding her up with his arm under her waist as he looked down at her from above, and she smiled and straightened up.

"I'm sorry, miss!" Lina looked down to see a boy looking up at her, eyes wide. Shaking her head, she bent down slightly and patted him on the head. "It's fine. You be careful though, alright?" She smiled as he nodded and ran back towards his friends. Smiling up at Kakashi, she straightened up, taking his arm again, and they continued walking. "Thanks for catching me. Such a gentleman." She teased, and Kakashi smirked. "But of course."

They walked towards the more expensive district of the civilian part of Konoha, passing several more expensive stores. Lina glanced inside, interested, but kept walking. The further they walked, the more formal the attire of those surrounding them became, and Lina slowly realized that they were headed to the most sophisticated part of town. Only those with real money ever came here, as it was filled with the finest restaurants and stores, banquet halls and the opera house also situated in this area. She personally had never been here, but she remembered as a child, waiting up with her grandparents, and later, her sister, for her parents when they went to the opera, remembering how beautifully her mother would dress up, how dazzling their smiles would be at each other as they walked out the door, as if they were sharing a secret that only adults could partake in.

"Kakashi...where on earth are we going? All of these places are so expensive!" Lina felt a pat on her hand and looked up at Kakashi.

"We're here." Lina looked around, seeing that she was standing in front of a luxurious-looking restaurant, Ambrosia. Walking in, they were greeted by two hostesses, one male and one female, both in formal wear. Both bowed to them, the male gesturing the way.

"Hatake-san, Sasaki-san. Your table is ready for you. Right this way." Lina smiled, gripping Kakashi's arm, and they followed the host. They walked into a soft-lit room filled with tables. As they passed other diners, Lina noticed a soft haze surrounding them, like a genjutsu. The diners were speaking, yet Lina couldn't hear what they were saying, even though she was just skirting the tables. Shooting Kakashi a questioning look, she didn't have time to ask before they'd reached their table. Kakashi pulled Lina's chair for her, and they sat down. Immediately, the host went through a series of hand seals, and a warm tingle ran through Lina and Kakashi's bodies.

"Our restaurant prides itself on its discretion. Thus, this jutsu will protect your conversation, and only the staff members will be able to communicate with you during the jutsu's life, and only when we come to your table. You won't hear us if we're on the other side of the room, and we can't hear you. Total privacy." The host passed two menus to them and bowed, about to depart, when Lina quickly asked out of a whim, "Is it possible to shield our faces as well? Of course, we can use a henge, but we'd prefer not to." She smiled as the man nodded and performed some more seals.

"Done. You two, as well as the staff, will see each other, but the rest of the guests will only see blurs."

"And what happens when they break the genjutsu?" Lina asked.

"It can't be broken unless one of the staff is targeted, in which case all of the staff will know." Lina nodded and smiled as the host left. Good, now they could eat in peace. Smiling back at Kakashi, Lina watched him remove his mask, her eyes twinkling. So handsome, and that suit fit him so perfectly that it was unbelievable. After a moment, she realized that she was staring, and quickly looked down at her menu. Seeing the prices, Lina's eyes popped wide open. Carefully closing the menu as calmly as she could, Lina whispered, "Kakashi, let's get out of here."

"What? Why?" Kakashi looked up from his menu.

"Look at the prices! It's too expensive." Lina shook her head. Honestly...she didn't need such extravagance to make her happy.

Kakashi shook his head. "It's fine, it's nice to spend a little extra once in a while."

"I would've been happy with a picnic." Lina said softly. Kakashi smiled. "I know, but this is nice too, right?" Lina nodded. Chewing on her lip, she scanned the menu. Everything was so expensive, she really felt guilty.

"Hatake-san, Sasaki-san, are you ready to order?" Lina looked up and furrowed her eyebrows. She knew what she wanted, but it was well over her food budget. She felt Kakashi's hand on hers and heard him say, "Don't worry about it. I'm paying. Just enjoy yourself."

"Actually, sir, your fees have already been taken care of." The waiter said, and both shinobi looked up at him, surprised.

"By who?" Kakashi asked. The waiter pulled out a small card from his pocket and placed it on the table in front of Kakashi with a flourish. "Your benefactors have left you a note. Sasaki-san, it is for you as well."

Kakashi picked up the note and began to read it out loud.

'To Kakashi-sensei and Lina nee-chan,

Enjoy your food! It's on us. XD

The matchmakers XOX'

Lina smiled as she read the note, instantly recognizing Hinata's neat and beautifully sculpted handwriting in the first line. The second and third lines, she didn't recognize, but Kakashi provided some insight for them.

"The second line is definitely Naruto. I'd recognize his chicken scratch anywhere. The third…it's not Sakura, so probably Ino. The signature fits too."

"That's so sweet! But where did they get the money? Their missions can't possibly pay _that_ much."

"Probably borrowed from their parents. In any case, shall we order? No need to waste money. Oh, but don't eat too much." Kakashi concluded.

"Why not?"

"We've got stuff to do after." Lina rolled her eyes and shook her head as she heard him, her mind immediately going to less innocent thoughts. Kakashi remained silent as he watched her. There was no need to ruin the surprise just yet.

XXX

"That was delicious! Ah, I know you said not too eat too much, but I'm stuffed." Lina sighed as she set down her utensils. Kakashi nodded in agreement and said, "Dessert?" Lina looked up and smiled. Looking at the dessert menu, Lina spotted a chocolate lava cake and she grinned.

"Ooh, I want the chocolate lava cake! Oh gosh, I haven't had that in ages." She sighed. Kakashi shook her head, amazed at her sweet tooth, and spoke to the waiter, "I'll have the frozen peach-yogurt pie. Not too big."

"Yes sir."

As they ate, Lina offered Kakashi a bite of her chocolate molten lava cake, but he refused. "I don't like sweet things."

"Eh? I didn't know that." Lina mumbled thoughtfully. Just then she remembered. "Ah! But-but-but! You ate the French bread I made that one time!" She remembered cooking for him the day after one of the first days of training (the morning after one of their first nights together).

Kakashi looked at her, remembering. Looking down, he said, "Yeah…"

"But, if you don't like sweets...you didn't like it?"

"No, I did. I just prefer less sweet things. I was being nice."

"Oh…" Lina pouted, and Kakashi reached over to pull Lina's face towards him, glad that their faces were disguised to outsiders. Ever so softly, he placed a finger on her chin, pulling it up to him. He noticed a tiny dot of chocolate on the corner of her lips, and smirked. Standing up slightly to lean in further, Kakashi stuck his tongue out to lick it off of her before he sat back down.

"If I remember correctly, that's one of your fantasies, isn't it? For me, that is." Lina dropped her jaw as she heard him speak before she grinned.

"Yeah, but on a much larger scale." Oh, how she'd love to have Kakashi dipped in chocolate. Thinking about it, she blushed and giggled, unable to stop smiling. Kakashi watched her knowingly as he shook his head. No matter how great her pervy, teasing, flirty side was, he loved seeing her shy girlish side too. It helped him to imagine what could have been if they'd met when they were younger. Of course, it was all fantasy, because they were different people now than they were back then. But still, it was nice to see.

XXX

They slowly finished their dessert, and Kakashi once again donned his mask as he proffered his arm for Lina to hold.

"So, what now? Home?" Lina assumed that dinner was the entire date, but Kakashi shook his head, smirking.

"Another surprise. Come." He led her down the street, and Lina kept her mouth shut, sated from the food. They walked towards the outskirts of town, where there were less people, but still in the more expensive part of the village. Lina curiously looked around, having never been here before. Soon, a wall of trees came into view as they reached the outer border of the forest that acted as a wall protecting Konoha.

"Follow me. Here, give me your hand, you'll need to watch your step in those shoes." Kakashi began to lead Lina into the forest, but stopped after a few steps when he thought of a better idea. Turning to her, he dipped down to pick her up as if she were a bride, and said, "Hang on tight."

Lina gasped as Kakashi infused chakra into his jumps, carrying her into the forest with her dress shimmering and flowing behind them. She was secretly glad that Kakashi was picking her up, those shoes did NOT go well with the forest scenery. After a few minutes, she felt Kakashi slow and watched him drop to the ground. They were in a rather large field in the middle of the forest, with a small pathway winding through the field to the other side of the forest, with other smaller pathways branching off in spirals.

Kakashi led Lina into the field until they were in the middle. Looking around, Lina saw Kakashi lift a hand and let out a small electrical charge up into the sky, which connected with a previously-hidden chakra string that was attached to others that Lina now saw pulled up several glass jars from hidden in the tall grass. She twisted and turned her head around as she watched the glass jars lifted, and hundreds, seemingly thousands of tiny lights floated up into the sky. Fireflies.

"Oh…my." Lina whispered, entranced. She loved fireflies. Disregarding her clothes, Lina tore off her shoes and tossed them onto the ground before she picked up her dress and ran down a mini-pathway, laughter bursting out. She ran into the middle of a swarm of the newly-released fireflies, stretching out her hands to see if they would land on her. Several dropped onto her hands their wings beating gently against her palms as their friends danced around her, buzzing softly. She dropped her hands and lifted her chin up higher to watch the fireflies begin to float away and disperse. But before they did, Lina performed a body flicker and grabbed Kakashi, performing it again to bring them both into the swarm. She looked up at him, her eyes twinkling with the lights, and she softly kissed his fingers.

"Thank you." This was phenomenal. True, it was worth nothing monetarily, but at the same time, it was priceless. So beautiful. Lina pulled Kakashi down into a kiss, the last image in her eyes before she closed them being hundreds of bright lights illuminating Kakashi in a soft glow.

Kakashi let Lina pull him into a kiss, smiling as he pulled down his mask. He'd been a little skeptical about the idea, considering the dinner was so extravagant, but Tenten had insisted that there were two things Lina loved: romance, and fireflies. This date would have both, from the dinner, to now, and one last surprise after this that he'd put in himself.

Lina placed her head against Kakashi's chest, turning it sideways as she continued to watch the lights twinkle away, Kakashi's arms around her as her were around him. Watching in silence, Lina heard Kakashi say softly, "How do you feel? Very full, or do you think you can handle a bit of a walk?"

"In these shoes?" She said skeptically, looking up at him. If he was planning on taking her into the forest again, there would be a bit of a problem. Kakashi shook his head. "I'll carry you in the forest, but it'll be better if you can walk the rest of the way."

Lina thought for a moment before she smiled and nodded. "I'm game."

Kakashi smiled down at her and quickly swooped down to pick her up again, laughing as she squealed. He quickly jumped through the forest making quick twists and turns to change directions. Lina noticed how he moved, and she suspected that he was trying to keep her in the dark so that she wouldn't figure out where they were going. Soon, they burst out of the forest, and Lina instantly recognized the Valley of the End, Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama facing each other as they flanked a giant waterfall. Instead of putting her down, Kakashi infused more chakra into his feet and walked up the waterfall before he finally put her back down. He took her hand and they walked for a short while, Lina swivelling her head back and forth as she looked around. She hadn't been here in ages, but she remembered it well.

The waterfall flowed through a river that ran through part of Otogakure (The Hidden Sound Village) before it drifted off towards the land between Takigakure (The Village Hidden In the Waterfalls) and Otogakure and out into the ocean. Walking slowly, Kakashi and Lina made their way through the lands, walking on the edge of the border of Sound village to not disturb or provoke any outside ninjas. To make it easier, Lina found herself walking on the water, the soft surface much easier on her feet than the hard ground or high grass, as it soon came to be.

"Kakashi, are we there yet?" Lina loved looking at the water during such a beautiful night, and she enjoyed seeing the stars reflected in the river, but it was getting pretty late. They had been walking for nearly a half hour, and she found herself beginning to suppress yawns.

Kakashi looked down at her and smiled. "Just a little further." Lina nodded and said sweetly as she squeezed his hand, "You'd better carry be back home, I don't know if I can stay awake." Kakashi chuckled and released her hand, swinging his arm around her shoulders to pull her closer to him. "Deal. It's a good thing you're weightless." Lina poked his stomach playfully and they continued walking, until suddenly, Lina saw something floating on the water.

"Kakashi, what's that?" Lina pointed at the object, squinting. Kakashi smiled and said, "Let's go have a look, shall we?"

They walked closer, and Lina saw a small dinghy. Kakashi led her to it and said, "Hop in, it's our ticket the rest of the way." Lina raised an eyebrow and looked down. She didn't want to snag her dress on the wood, but upon inspection, she saw that it was newly-built. Carefully, she walked into the small boat and sat down, Kakashi sitting opposite her. He took the oars and slowly began rowing, the river helping him move. Lina saw the river's current moving in the opposite direction of Konoha, so she guessed that they must be near the source of the river, the ocean. Sure enough, they saw the horizon widen in front of them, and Kakashi slowed his rowing, letting the current do the rest.

XXX

"I sense a disturbance in the area. Two shinobi." Black Zetsu spoke softly. A masked figure by the name of Tobi stirred from within the darkness of a cave.

"Find them and tell me what they're doing here."

"Hai." Black Zetsu melted into the ground, reappearing several hundreds of metres away from where Lina and Kakashi were. Using his chakra, he awakened all the surrounding trees to watch the two shinobi float in the water. He saw a masked man and a young girl on a small boat. They were talking, laughing. A date? Harmless. Before he disappeared, Black Zetsu saw White Zetsu appear.

"That's Kakashi, Tobi's old teammate. Hmm, he'll be interested to hear this." They melted back into the forestry, reappearing in the cave with Tobi.

"Well? Who was it?"

"You're dear friend Kakashi, and some girl." The Zetsus watched as Tobi's Sharingan spun simultaneously.

"Kakashhhhiii…Let's have a look, shall we?" Tobi let out a small giggle before he melted into the ground. Reappearing closer than the Zetsus had been, Tobi watched his former team mate with a girl. Who was she? She looked pretty, for sure, but she seemed a little young for him. Not that he cared. He'd left that part of his life behind him when he'd 'died'.

XXX

"Kakashi…"

"I know. I feel it too." Kakashi and Lina both felt a disturbance in the air. They were being watched. Remaining calm, they continued to smile and play the role as they heightened their alertness. After a few minutes, the feeling went away, and they knew they were alone again. By now, they were in the middle of the ocean, and Lina was wondering where they were going. Just as she was about to ask, Kakashi abruptly stood up, holding out his hand for her.

"Come on, we're here."

"Here? Where?" Lina stood up and walked onto the water, careful to keep her dress dry. They walked onto the water and Kakashi led her a few steps away from the boat. Suddenly, Lina heard Kakashi make a sound similar to a dog whistle, but with more notes. Hearing him whistle, Lina watched the water, waiting. After a few moments, she heard the returning calls of several 'something's from underwater. After a few seconds, she gasped as she watched a pod of dolphins rise up from underwater and jump into the air, swimming around the two shinobi.

"Oh my Gods!" Lina shrieked and laughed, seeing the dolphins jump again and again. Mothers, fathers, babies, there must have been 12 surrounding her and Kakashi. But after a while, she realized to her dismay that she couldn't get any closer to them without fear of getting wet. But as soon as she thought it, Kakashi pulled her close to him and spoke into her ear. "Here, wear this. It'll keep you covered." He took out a clear raincoat from a hidden compartment in the boat and handed it to her. She put it on gratefully and walked slowly to the dolphins, extending her hands. The dolphins immediately surged towards her, splashing her and Kakashi, who'd also donned on a raincoat. Laughing, Lina watched Kakashi tie a rope loosely around two dolphin's necks, handing her one end of the rope.

"Put more chakra into your feet." Kakashi instructed her, and Lina did so, just in time. The dolphins jumped up and back down into the water, swimming at full speed with Lina and Kakashi surfing the water behind them. Laughing, Lina felt the wind whip her hair out of her face, and she yelled, "This is amazing!" She heard Kakashi chuckle beside her, and she grinned. The two shinobi watched the dolphins dance and jump around them for several miles before Kakashi urged them to bring them back to the boat.

All too soon, they were back at the boat, although Lina noticed that it had drifted away slightly. Climbing back in, she waved goodbye to the dolphins, listening to Kakashi whistle them a goodbye. Kakashi stepped into the dinghy and began rowing.

"Kakashi, that was amazing." Lina said, exhilarated. Kakashi nodded. This was his own surprise for her. The dinner was Ino and Sakura's idea, the fireflies were captured and set up by Hinata and Tenten (with a little help from Naruto's clones), but this was his own idea, and he was glad she liked it. He'd used his ninken to find the dolphin pod, and he'd asked Yamato to make the dinghy. Of course, ever the shinobi, he'd scouted the area for enemies, so when he'd felt that small surge of chakra, he'd been immediately on guard.

Lina sighed in content as she watched Kakashi row them back towards Konoha. Instead of getting back up to walk the rest of the way, they opted to row until the current switched, and then Lina went over to sit next to Kakashi, her head leaned against his shoulder as they floated down the river, heading into and through Oto. Kakashi placed an arm around her shoulder and smiled as he felt her hum and snuggle in. The date had been a success, everything had gone according to plan, and now it was time to head home. As he thought, he smirked. Even for him, this date had been much more perfect than he'd thought. Sometimes he surprised even himself.

After several miles, Lina and Kakashi got off of the boat, stowing their raincoats in the dinghy for Yamato to collect later, and Kakashi carried her through the forest as they were now in Konoha, and nearing the Valley of the End. He leapt into the forest, jumping from branch to branch for several more miles until he finally burst out into the pathway. He dropped her to the ground, and they continued to walk the rest of the way home. They walked back to their apartment, arms linked, and Lina's head resting on Kakashi's shoulder (now that she could reach, with her giant heels!). Arriving, Lina turned to Kakashi and smiled up at him.

"Thank you for the date, the evening out, everything. The food, the fireflies, the dolphins, it was so...incredible. We should go out again, although probably not quite this fancy. And it'll be my treat next time, although having your students pay for dinner was a nice gift from them."

Kakashi took a step closer to her, an eyebrow raised as he watched her take a step back. Taking another, effectively placing her back against the door, Kakashi leaned down and said, "That sounds great. Now, are you going to invite me in?"

Lina grinned and shook her head. "Sorry, I don't put out on the first date." She watched Kakashi's expression change to one of surprise and she stuck out her tongue at him. Turning to open the door, Lina heard a relatively loud noise and felt the ground shake under her. Seeing a shadow cast over her, she had no time to turn around and look before she felt Kakashi's arms wrap around her, his bare lips on her neck.

Breathing in her scent, Kakashi murmured into her neck, "Oh? Is there no way for me to change your mind?" He allowed his arms to run down her side, sliding open the thigh-high slit down her dress. He trailed his fingers down her leg, feeling her shudder under him.

"Kakashi! People can see-"

"No, they can't. I put a wall up, so no one can see us. Now, what about letting me in?"

Lina closed her eyes and leaned into Kakashi's touch, her head tilting back and to the side to give him more skin to kiss. Turning around, she felt herself get even more turned on. She peeked over his shoulder to see that they were indeed encircled by earth walls before she pulled him into a hot kiss. She pulled him close and immediately took control, her tongue dominating his mouth as her hands roamed freely inside his suit jacket and over his shirt. Her lipstick had long since worn off, but the stain she wore underneath was still present, so she wasn't worried about getting red marks all over his and her faces. She felt Kakashi's hands begin to try and unzip her dress, and she immediately pulled away.

"No. I told you, I'm not putting out on the first date." She winked at Kakashi, his lips tinged red from her sucking on them, and she quickly opened the door and closed it, saying, "Good night, Kakashi." As she closed the door, she felt Kakashi's hand pull at hers, his foot jammed against the doorframe. Looking up at him, she saw his visible eye darkened with lust, and she shivered.

"You really okay with that?" Kakashi deepened his voice, knowing how much of a turn-on that was for her, and sure enough, he watched her shiver ever so slightly. Bringing her hand to his still unmasked lips, Kakashi licked her fingers softly, sucking on each one individually and with care as he traced his tongue around the tips. Lina watched him suck on her fingers, the sensations going straight down to her groin, and she bit back a whimper.

Immediately, Kakashi stepped forward, pushing open the door, and pulled Lina out, using his super-human speed to fly through the hand seals and body flicker them back to his apartment.

*Poof*

Stepping back into the hallway and quietly closing the door behind her, Lina pouted and softly said, "You're horrible."

Kakashi grinned and said, "Hey, you are too."

Lina leaned against the door, looking up at Kakashi through her lashes. "Well, we're here now."

Kakashi watched Lina acting demure, her words only fueling him to kiss her. But before he could, he heard her speak.

"So, now that we're here, what are you going to do to me?" Lina wanted him to talk dirty to her, and he immediately knew it too. Smirking, Kakashi leaned into her and said in a low voice, "I want to kiss you."

"Kiss me?" She was disappointed. Kiss her? _'That's it?'_

"Yup. Everywhere."

"...Everywhere, huh? And what about the places covered by my clothes?" Lina nudged him along, and Kakashi's eyes began to glow.

"Oh, I want to rip that dress off of you with my hands. I want to see your nipples standing out from under your bra, and your matching panties soaked through with your juices. After I've finished looking at you in nothing but your bra, panties, and shoes, I want to take off your bra, and pull your panties down with my teeth until you're standing in front of me with nothing but your shoes." Kakashi's black eye twinkled as he spoke, his voice silky smooth and soft like cashmere as he grew more involved in the scene.

"Ah. And what then?" Lina shivered at the thought, already imagining herself in that state of undress. She loved how he knew that she was wearing matching underwear. Kakashi leaned in even further until his nose and hers were centimetres apart, his Sharingan beginning to spin slowly.

"Then, I'm going to slowly take off your shoes and kiss the rest of you. All of you. And I'm going to tease you. Yes, I'll tease you. So much that you'll come just from my teasing. Your nipples, your soft spot under your jaw, your firm ass, and your soaking cunt will be teased so much you won't know if you're in heaven or hell." Kakashi watched in satisfaction as Lina fought to remain composed. He too was fighting for composure, as dirty talking was one of his triggers. His mouth was now just barely grazing hers, and he could feel her breath becoming more erratic.

"Oh my. Well, let's see what you've got, shall we?" Lina spoke as calmly as she could, but she knew that Kakashi was only holding on by a thread, just like herself. As soon as she spoke, Kakashi leaned in the few millimetres it would take to finally make contact and kissed her harshly, collapsing on the door as they both tried to remain standing. Lina could feel herself losing strength in her legs, and Kakashi was all but leaning his entire body down on top of her, so she walked backwards into his apartment, using her memory to keep track of the layout. She stumbled slightly as she tried to steer towards the kitchen, but Kakashi quickly caught her and diverted her to the living room.

"The couch. More comfortable." Kakashi panted into her mouth, and for once, Lina didn't complain. It was his apartment, and to be honest, she didn't mind the extra cushioning.

She fell on top of the couch, yelping as Kakashi collapsed on top of her, but in the next moment she was laying lengthwise on the couch, her head and legs stretching towards each end. Kakashi kissed her hurriedly, his hands pulling her up so that he could undo the back zipper of her dress. It was truly a shame that they couldn't control themselves, because he would love to see her slowly undress as the cloth slipped off of her. Oh well. Quickly yet carefully, he pulled the dress down, humming as he leaned down to kiss her skin again, reaching to her breasts this time.

Meanwhile, Lina helped Kakashi remove his suit jacket, and she was in the process of undoing his buttons, but there were too many, and her hands were too unsteady. Groaning in frustration, Lina quickly said, "How much do you like this shirt?"

Kakashi spoke into her skin, "Not enough that you can't rip it off." Lina nodded, but in the next moment realized that she didn't understand. "Huh?"

"Rip it off." Kakashi growled, biting into her shoulder.

"Oh. Right." Lina winced automatically as she felt buttons pop as she pulled the shirt apart, but in the next moment forgot as she was met with his delicious chest. She ran her fingers down his chest, but had no time to fully appreciate the beauty as Kakashi was already kissing her soft spots, making her writhe under him. She reached down and began unbuttoning his dress pants, pushing them off of his hips and grabbing hold of his boxers.

Now that they were both in the same state of undress, Lina opened her legs to wrap them around him, grinding herself against him as her shoes dug into his butt. Grinding, they kissed, their lips gnashing together. Finally, they pulled away, and Lina could feel Kakashi hardening inside his boxers. She tried to bring him into another kiss, but Kakashi shook his head.

"No. I want to do what I said I'd do." He wanted to look at her, undress her further, tease her mercilessly, and have his way with her on his terms. He kissed her neck, beginning again, and slowly slipped her bra off of her, taking her breasts in his hands immediately to prevent her from covering them up as he stared down at her. He felt her arch her chest into his hands, and he continued to tease her, licking her every now and then as he took in her expressions and sounds. He ground into her, feeling the friction begin to slip as she became even more aroused. He wiggled further down her body, kissing his way down until he met her panties. Grasping the front of them with his teeth, Kakashi pulled them down, his nose feathering down her most private area. He pulled off her panties the rest of the way with his hands, his lips already moving to her entrance, licking and teasing her. Soon, he felt her clench down around him, her moans growing, and he felt the telltale signs of her oncoming orgasm. He continued to lick her through it, letting it wash over her and grow again until she was flying for the second time, her hands threaded through his hair.

As she tried to come back to Earth, Lina felt Kakashi's hands, which had until now been holding her legs down, begin to slide up her body, cupping and tweaking her breasts and nipples as he continued to suck her. She began to rise again, and this time the combined sensations flew her higher than before, but as soon as she was falling, Lina felt Kakashi slip into her, and she was up again (when did he take off his boxers?). Kakashi kissed his way up her body and slid himself into her, both of them moving instantly. It was hot, it was heavy, and they loved every minute of it. Kakashi watched Lina erupt again, and he drove himself into her, following her soon after. After a pause, they continued, Lina pushing herself up to straddle him as he sat on the couch normally. Pumping him in and out of her, Lina weakly clung one-armed to Kakashi's shoulder as the other hand reached down to grip him. After a few moments, she felt him begin to pulse in her again, and soon he was bursting in her, eliciting a whimper from her as he drove her to her God-knows-how-many peaks she was at now.

Kakashi lazily laid Lina back down on the couch and resting his head and body on top of her, both of them breathing rapidly. The quick succession of orgasms had left Lina euphoric, yet not quite as weak as longer ones might.

"Well? How'd I do?" He lifted himself up slightly to look at her, his muscles beginning to protest.

Slowly smiling, Lina rolled her eyes and said playfully, still panting. "That was _nice_." Hearing him growl as his eye flashed with annoyance, Lina giggled, only to moan and squirm under him as she felt their combined sounds resonate in their connection.

"You know, I still have the strength to teach you to never say that again." Kakashi spoke silkily, smirking as he watched Lina's eyes grow wide. Staring down at her, he waited for her response. Looking up at him, Lina softly bit her lip before saying, "Teach me..._se-n-se-i~_." She was just teasing, thinking that he was bluffing. In her (relatively short) experience with him, 3-4 orgasms was his limit, and he'd already hit 2. Surely he didn't have enough energy to go again. Oh, how wrong she was.

Pulling out of her, both of them shuddering at the feeling, Kakashi reached down to cup her entrance, sliding three of his fingers in effortlessly, and began thrusting them in at a rough pace, watching Lina's eyes fly wide open again. Careful to use his palm to rub her clitoris heavily, Kakashi bent down to bite on her nipple harshly, feeling it harden instantly. Hearing her cry out, Kakashi continued to tease her, feeling her inner walls clamp down on his fingers quickly, and he quickly withdrew his fingers, not letting her release. Pulling her nipple with his teeth before he released it and looked down at her, Kakashi asked, "Do you understand?"

Lina looked up at him, her head dizzy as she felt cheated, but loving every minute of it. Shaking her head, she softly said, "No, teach me again?" She was seriously exhausted now, but she loved to play. Kakashi smirked down at her and continued his assault, stopping just short of allowing her to release again. "Now?" Again, Lina shook her head, her whole body trembling as she clenched her jaw. Kakashi marvelled at her willpower before he continued, slowing his movements to keep her teetering on the edge. "How about now?" Lina let out a strangled whimper as she nodded and said, "Third time's the charm." She couldn't bear it anymore, and gripped the armrest and couch back above her head and beside her tightly as she finally released, her voice silent as her eyes flew open and her body quaked in Kakashi's arms. Kakashi held her for several minutes, waiting for her to relax, and soon she was limp in his arms, her breathing labored.

Kakashi kissed her softly, pulling back as he didn't feel a response. He tried again, nibbling on her bottom lip, but still, nothing.

"Lina?" There was no response. He could see her eyes shut, and he heard her pulse still beating fast. He kissed her neck, hitting one of his favorite spots right under her jaw, but she was still unresponsive.

"Lina, are you alright?" Kakashi wondered if they'd been a little too rough for her, but after a pause, he heard a sound.

"Mmm."

"Lina, you're okay?"

"Mmm."

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Mmm."

"Is that a yes or a no?"

"Mmm." Kakashi's lips turned up in a lopsided smile. Gathering her closer, he whispered in her ear, "Damn, girl. I said before that you're an S, but maybe you're more of an M than I thought." He felt Lina squirm under him feebly and he grinned as he saw her mouth smile slightly.

"Shut up."

"Maa, and here I was worried about you. Seriously though, are you okay?" Kakashi felt Lina nod into his chest.

"Mhm. I'm exhausted, I came like 5 times! Sorry, but I don't think I can finish you."

"I'm fine, just watching you was enough." Kakashi gathered her in his arms before he walked butt-naked into his bedroom, folding her into the bed before he too climbed in. Immediately feeling the cold of the bed sheets, they reached towards each other for warmth, Kakashi once again enveloping Lina in his arms. She groaned in comfort as she felt her body relax and she burrowed into his chest, kicking off her shoes.

"Night." She said lazily, already drifting off. Kakashi kissed her sweat-soaked brow and breathed in deeply. "Good night."

XXX

The next morning, Lina woke up and got out of bed, intent on satisfying her hungry stomach. Sitting up, she felt an arm come around her.

"Mmmmorning baby."

Lina raised an eyebrow as she turned to see Kakashi looking up at her sleepy-eyed. "Baby?"

"Yes, darlin'?"

Lina grinned as Kakashi rose and pulled her to him. Humming she said, "Just don't call me 'babe' and we're good."

"What's wrong with babe?"

"It sounds like something Genma would say." She grimaced, and Kakashi chuckled.

"Maa, he's not that bad." Kakashi tried to defend his friend, but Lina shook her head.

"No, he's just an idiot. But let's not talk about him, ne?"

"Hm, good idea. What shall we talk about instead?"

"Well, you could start with telling me why the sudden interest in giving me a pet name." Lina tried to turn around to look at him but Kakashi held her still, his chin resting on her head.

"I'd say a month is an appropriate time, wouldn't you?"

"I suppose. Ummm...then, since we're on the topic of...well…" Lina squirmed, suddenly shy about what she wanted to ask. Kakashi loosened his grip on her and turned her around. "Hm? What is it?"

Lina traced a finger down his chest as she blushed. Finally, she looked up. "How's...Kashi?" She'd been thinking about it for a while now, and it fit his playfulness so well. Kakashi smiled and nodded, bending down to kiss her sweetly. "I was thinking Ka-kun."

Lina pulled back, surprised. "Would you prefer that? I thought it might be a little too 'Academy' for you." She watched Kakashi shake his head. "You choose, I'm good with both." Lina nodded thoughtfully and said, "Both it is then." The latter was starting to grow on her. She pulled him down for another kiss and they fell back onto the bed.

XXX

-end of part 1

No Author's Note. Will be in part 2, which will be uploaded on Thursday.


	28. Chapter 26 part 2

**Something I wanted to mention, just cuz it's somewhat relevant to the story: right after the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime, the Pain arc starts. Now, I personally want to develop more of the Lina/Kakashi/rest of the gang's relationships, so I'm stretching the time frame just a bit. Pain invasion won't come for a few chapters.**

As always, please review, comment, write something! I'm dying to know what you guys think. Ja ne! ;)

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. I do, however, own any original ideas or characters (such as Sasaki Lina) that I have created.

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Sasaki Lina is 29. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: **the Pain arc is still going to happen, I'm making Sasuke come back too, but Shinobi Alliance arc is still going to happen, as well as anything that didn't directly involve him in the anime/manga.** I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?)

_**PLEASE REVIEW! COMMENT, ANYTHING! THANKS :D**_

_*****This is the second part of Chapter 26. It's a quite a bit darker than the first part. I hope you enjoy it nonetheless! FYI, I would recommend you re-reading the first part before you read this part. They were meant to be together, but I thought it would be too much information. Now that I've uploaded the first part, I'm regretting it, because this chapter continues right after that one, so the emotions and everything set in immediately without any build up.*****_

_**Chapter 26 part 2**_

As Lina and Kakashi grew closer, they learned several things about each other, most of which were learned through trial and error, when one or the other came back from missions. Lina learned to look for the signs that Kakashi had had a bad mission. His erratic heartbeat, his eyes slightly crazed, would result in rough sex, while a droopier slump or a slower speech pattern would mean that he was going to retreat into himself. She learned to not expect Kakashi to ever fulfill her needs when he was in his 'crazed' mood, as more often than not, he left her hanging, rolling away to nap or sleep and ignoring her. The first time she'd figured this out, Lina didn't think much of it. After all, she was a grown woman. She understood that she should be more understanding towards him, as he always was to her. But soon, the sexual tension would become too much for her. After several failed missions (she guessed that these had to be ANBU ones, since Naruto was now training with his toads, and Sakura was back to training with Tsunade), and several non-orgasms, Lina finally couldn't do it.

Creeping out of the bed, Lina went to the shower to wash off, the water not doing anything to calm her down. Slowly, she began tracing her hands around her body, working to loosen the tension. Pleasuring herself, Lina sighed in relief as she finally found release. In the next moment, however, she felt unsure of herself. Should she tell Kakashi that leaving her like this wasn't a solution? After all, he only ever did this when he was in one of his moods. Otherwise he was perfectly attentive. Thinking, Lina towel-dried herself off and walked out, stopping when she saw Kakashi standing outside waiting for her.

"Hey, I was wondering where you were. I heard sounds coming from in there...were you…?" Kakashi wasn't sure if he'd heard correctly, considering the water had been pretty loud. Lina blushed crimson and looked away before she nodded reluctantly. Kakashi's eye widened as he realized and he shook his head in disbelief. Coming up to her, he pulled Lina to him and said, "Don't. I guess I haven't been the most attentive guy these past few times, but don't ever feel like you need to hide it from me and get off by yourself. Just tell me."

Lina looked up at Kakashi, surprised. "Okay." She'd thought that if she kept asking him to relieve her as well, eventually he would break and get angry with her too. Regardless, she wished that he would talk to her.

When Kakashi was in one of his 'distancing' moods, Lina felt as if he was miles away from her. Unspeaking, not looking at her, Kakashi's face remained hard. After several attempts of getting him to talk, Lina was shocked to find that he began to keep his mask up when he was in one of those moods, hiding his face from her. That hurt the most, but she remained patient. How could she not, when he was so willing to be with her without knowing anything about her?

And then one day, Kakashi came back from a mission. He found his apartment empty. Not surprising considering Lina didn't actually live there, but he was still annoyed. Knocking on her door, Kakashi grabbed her hand as she opened the door and dragged her to his apartment.

"Kakashi, wha-whoa!"

Closing the door behind them, Kakashi silently made his way to his bedroom, not saying anything. Lina cautiously followed him, unsure of what he wanted, only to find him turned away from her, laying on the bed.

Lina carefully crept onto the bed, peering at Kakashi's face, and saw that he was in one of his 'distancing' moods. Sighing, she gently placed a hand on his arm, telling him that she was here, and picked out his Icha Icha Paradise that she now knew he kept in the top drawer of his bedside table.

"Minato….the Yondaime Hokage, was my sensei." Lina looked up from the book, listening to Kakashi speak as he remained turned away from her. Not sure what to say, Lina remained silent.

"He...he taught me that sometimes rules need to be broken." Kakashi spoke as if he was speaking to himself. At a loss, Lina finally spoke. "Kakashi...what…?" She watched him turn onto his front, ignoring her, and she dropped the subject.

XXX

As well, Kakashi learned that Lina too had several habits that she resorted to out of practice. She preferred to keep to herself. Or maybe it was her inexperience with letting people in when she was hurting. When she failed a mission, or caused failure in some way, she preferred to wallow in the pain by herself before she let him in. Several times, Kakashi had tried to comfort her too soon, only to be lashed out at. Of course, these tongue lashings were short, and she always apologized for them, feeling guilty for hurting him. But he still learned to keep his distance from her, at least until she came to him.

When they slept together, Kakashi soon found that Lina had recurring nightmares that would wake her up in tears. These dreams would shake her to her very core, until she couldn't do anything except cling to him and cry. At first, Lina had been so afraid that she was being too high maintenance, having asked him not to ask her why she was the way she was, and now asking him to comfort her when he didn't even know anything, and so she'd retreated into herself, distancing herself from him and staying in her apartment rather than go to him. But Kakashi simply went to her apartment and stayed with her silently, reminding her that she'd promised not to run away anymore. And so, slowly, she began to tell him about herself. Not everything. Not about Souta, or his death, or her teammates deaths. No, she stuck to the lighter topics, remembering the good times she'd shared with her teammates and sensei.

"Sensei was so sweet, especially to Aoi. I always thought that if they'd met before, in a different time when they were both closer in age, they'd end up together. They were perfect for each other." Lina reminisced, as she wiggled closer to him with her arms around his stomach, and Kakashi smiled. He loved how happy she looked when she told stories about her teammates. He could see that they were her family outside of her family, just like Obito, Rin, and Minato-sensei had been for him. He wondered what happened to her teammates. Did they die? He knew that he could just ask around, he certainly had the connections, but it felt wrong to pry. She was already beginning to tell him more about herself. Maybe eventually, she'd tell her what happened. He could wait.

XXX

On better days, Lina and Kakashi began to grow adventurous in the bedroom, each of them wondering just how 'perverted' the other was. Lina, knowing Kakashi's reputation, was curious to see what was real and what was fake. In return, Kakashi knew and had seen that she could be flirty and predatory in bed, he wanted to see more. As they slowly developed, they discovered boundaries.

"I don't do bondage." Lina said flatly for the third time. She understood the thrill of being tied down, sure, but she didn't like it. It reminded her too much of when she was unable to move, with that faceless jounin attacking her on that mission that Souta had been taken. But she hadn't told Kakashi that story just yet, or even who Souta was, so she knew that he thought she was simply being a prude about this one thing.

"But Lina-chan…" Kakashi whined. He didn't really want to tie her down THAT badly, but he found it odd that she could be fine with so many other parts of sex that she wasn't with this one section. Figuring that she was just being silly, Kakashi hatched a plan to 'convert' her.

XXX

Several nights later, Lina slept alone in her bed, Katsumi and Kei sleeping in the living room on the futons she'd bought for them. She was sleeping soundly when she suddenly came back into consciousness. Slowly regaining feeling in her body, Lina slowly realized that her hands were bound on top of her head, her legs spread wide and bound at the foot of her bed. Her clothes were still on, thankfully, but Lina was nonetheless terrified. Feeling a mouth, a tongue on her neck, hands wandering on her body, Lina opened her eyes wide and began straining against what felt like chakra strings. Looking down, she spotted Kakashi's trademark hair, his lone open eye watching her as a grin ghosted through his face. "Hey there." An intense feeling of relief passed through her, and Lina almost relaxed. Almost.

"Kashi, let me go." She continued to tug her hands and legs, but Kakashi shook his head, chuckling.

"Relax, baby. This'll be fun." He watched her struggle, thinking it was just part of the play, and continued to tease her.

"Kakashi, no. Please, let me go." Lina was getting frantic, but Kakashi ignored her, beginning to take off her clothes. Vaguely, she remembered that her room still had the sound-proofing jutsu on it. So, even if she screamed, no one would hear. _'Crap.'_

Lina felt Kakashi's hands and lips disappear from her body and she lifted her head to see what he was doing. Gasping, she saw Kakashi reach into his weapons pack and take out a kunai.

"K-K-Ka-Kakashi?! Wha-What are you doing with that?!" Lina squirmed even more in her bindings, fear in her eyes.

"Shhh, relax, just feel it." Kakashi said soothingly, sliding the kunai down her now-naked body, watching her shiver from the cold metal. Lina began to hyperventilate, terrified, and shook her head, tugging frantically at her bindings.

"No, Kakashi, no! Stop, please, please no!" Lina's eyes began to leak tears as the present and the past blurred in her mind. The kunai, the helplessness, the fear, it was too much. Kakashi immediately saw her begin to cry and he quickly removed her holds. "Alright, it's alright. Lina, it's okay." He watched in shock as Lina curled into herself, shaking and shivering, her breathing shallow and rapid as she cried. Kakashi tried to comfort her as best as he could, seeing the panic in her eyes.

Lina felt Kakashi's hands come up to touch her gently, tentatively, and she shakily said, "Kakashi, please please, don't ever do that again. Please." She shook as she heard Kakashi reply that he wouldn't, and that he was sorry.

"I'm sorry, Lina. I didn't know…I'm sorry. Please, don't cry, it's alright. I won't do it again."

Looking into his eye, Lina could see that he was sorry, that he didn't mean to hurt her, and she crawled to him, hugging him tightly as she sobbed. At this point, she desperately needed someone to hold her, and Kakashi was so good at it.

Eventually, after her sobs had subsided, Lina decided that it was time to discuss why she was the way she was. Taking out her necklace, Lina started from the beginning, telling him about her teammates, about how Souta had helped her get over her teammates' deaths, how his own death had tortured her, what the jounin had said as he left her almost unconscious, her journey those first few months away from the village, all of it. She found that once she started talking, she couldn't quite stop, and so she just kept going. Kakashi listened in silence beside her, but she could tell that he was now beginning to understand why she'd reacted so violently towards bondage and the kunai.

Finally finished with her story, Lina sighed and dropped her gaze to her sheet-covered lap. She'd finally told him everything. Now what?

Kakashi, for his part, was speechless. Lina had been through so much. Now it all made sense. Her insecurity, most of all, had always struck him as odd. But not anymore. Gathering her in his arms, Kakashi whispered, "I'm sorry, Lina. I'm so sorry." He kissed her now tearstained cheeks before he laid her back onto the bed, crawling in with her. Holding her tightly in his arms, he was surprised by what she said next, although it probably shouldn't have.

"So, now that you know...what do you think? Too much drama for you? I can understand if you think it's too much baggage. You don't need to stay because you feel sorry for me." Lina spoke into Kakashi's chest, afraid of what she might hear. She felt Kakashi tighten his grip around her.

"I think...that you are so brave. I think...that those idiots who said those things to you had no idea what they were talking about. I think, that I'm just now starting to appreciate you. Thank you for telling me everything. And no, it's not too much baggage." Kakashi spoke into her hair, closing his eye as he thanked whoever was up there that he had met her. How could he have been so terrible? He'd practically forced her to tell her deepest darkest secrets to him!

Lina pulled away for a moment to look at Kakashi. "You're...you're really alright with it?" She was confused. She'd thought that as soon as she told him what was really going on, he would turn around and walk right out of her life. But no, he was staying. The feeling was incredible. Snuggling back in, she closed her eyes, trying to forget how horrible she'd just felt. She'd noticed that Kakashi didn't try to make her feel better, or try to belittle her fears. Of course, being so perceptive had benefits, and Lina was very grateful for that.

The next morning, Lina slowly awoke into consciousness, smiling as she felt Kakashi's body next to hers. Keeping her eyes closed, she snuggled in closer, peeking out when she heard a chuckle.

"Good morning to you too." Kakashi chuckled as he watched Lina wiggle closer to him. He smiled down at her, seeing her peek up at him. Lina looked into his eye before she bent her head down to muffle a yawn into his chest. "Couldn't sleep again?" She asked.

Kakashi shook his head. "I woke up early, and felt like watching you." He felt her hum into his chest and hug him around his middle. He'd thought about her telling him what he knew were her deepest, darkest regrets, and he felt turmoil in himself. She was sharing so much of herself with him, was he supposed to do the same back?

Lina closed her eyes in contentment, unnoticing of his thoughts. She felt Kakashi pet her head softly and she purred, gluing herself to him. Then, she heard him say softly, "I'm sorry about last night. I didn't mean to make you tell me everything." She looked up at him before she looked away, pulling away from him to lie on her back, the memories of last night's pain coming back to her.

"I've never told anyone any of what I told you, except Dai-chan. He was with me the whole time, and as my summons he knows me better than anyone else. But...I'm glad I told you. Because, just now, seeing and feeling you still here after hearing everything, it means the world to me. And, Kakashi? I hope you can talk to me too, one day. I hope you know that I would never turn you away. Not again. Besides, knowing all of that stuff, you probably now see that I have no right to criticize anyone." Lina spoke towards the ceiling. She felt Kakashi watching her, but she kept her eyes straight.

Kakashi reached over and smoothed a strand of hair out of Lina's face, not saying anything. She deserved more than she knew. Her telling him about the men who'd rejected her made him want to beat Genma up himself. Instead, he quietly said, "Don't say that. You have as much right as anyone else."

Lina shook her head. "No, Kakashi. I mean, yes, I know, logically speaking, there was no way that I was going to be able to protect them, given the situations, but still. It's _my_ fault that they died, it's _my_ weakness that caused me to fail to protect them. I…" Lina felt a single tear fall from one of her eyes and she closed them as her bottom lip trembled, more coming to the surface of her eyes. She felt Kakashi's arm wrap around her, pulling her to him, and he spoke softly into her hair.

"Listen to your brain, no matter what your heart says. There was no other way. From what you said, the attackers were always jounin, and you were just chuunin. And your teammates, that boy, they all cared about you and knew what they were doing when they accepted the mission. You're not at fault here." Kakashi murmured those words over and over, slowly calming Lina down as she continued to weep some more. Somehow, when he said it, she believed him. It was like his opinion of her mattered just as much as her own, and she was beyond relieved that he accepted her weaknesses.

Lifting her head up, she sniffled and let out a small smile, smoothing her hand on his chest. "Sorry, I got you all wet." Thank the Gods she wasn't too much of a nose-dripper when she cried. Kakashi smiled down at her and took her hand off of his chest, holding it in his own as he dipped down to kiss her lips, tasting the tears. Looking deep into her eyes, Kakashi asked, "Better?" Lina nodded and leaned in to kiss him again. Just then, they heard the doorbell ring, and they got up to open the door, Lina wiping her face with the back of her hands.

Walking out of the bedroom, Lina opened the door to see Ino carrying a bouquet of lilies.

"Delivery for a Miss Sasaki Lina." Ino winked. Lina looked at her, surprised, and stepped aside to let her into the apartment. Katsumi stepped out of the kitchen, wondering what the commotion was about, and promptly squealed.

"Oh, nee-chan, that's so cute! He bought you flowers!" Lina rolled her eyes but smiled, blushing lightly. Looking back at Kakashi, who smirked under his mask, Lina wondered. Why was he giving her flowers? Odd… She found a card attached and opened it.

_**'I'm sorry about last night. Thank you, though. Forgive me?'**_

"I'm sorry about last night. Thank you, though. Forgive me?" Ino read the card and looked at Lina. "Forgive him for what? Kakashi-sensei, what did you do?" Lina promptly hid the card, shaking her head. "It's nothing, he didn't do anything." She walked over to Kakashi and asked, "Flowers? Why flowers?"

Kakashi shrugged, embarrassed. "It's what people do when they apologize, isn't it?" He wouldn't know, he'd only ever watched relationships from afar. His own had never come to that particular step, especially since he was (mostly) only ever interested in the company.

Lina looked up at Kakashi and smiled. True, most people tended towards flowers, but she wasn't really the type that expected them. An apology was fine, maybe a hug. A kiss, if he was _really_ bad. She told him as much.

"Kashi, thank you for these, they're beautiful. I love lilies, and you were very sweet to get them for me, but I don't expect you to give me flowers whenever you want to apologize. A hug is more than enough."

Kakashi tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, ignoring the spectators, and said softly, "Still. I wanted to get them for you." Lina reached up to take his hand before it fell, and she brought his fingers to her lips, ignoring the 'Awww!'s around them. Squeezing her eyes shut, she kissed his fingers softly before murmuring, "Thank you."_ 'For more than just the flowers.'_

XXX

It took several days of contemplating and just mulling things over before Kakashi opened up to Lina. By this time in the relationship, Kakashi felt like he could tell her so much about himself. She'd already revealed herself to him, so he knew that she understood at least some of what he felt. But, he still felt unable to tell her all of it. And so, not telling her everything, he started off by telling her about his team. He talked about how different Obito had been, how Rin was sort of like their negotiator, calming both of them down as they argued. He didn't talk about his father, or Obito's or Rin's death, keeping those secrets to himself for now. Lina listened to him talk, smiling as she thought of a younger Kakashi. It was odd that they'd never met, but she supposed it shouldn't be. He graduated a year before she entered the academy, and he was off being a jounin when she graduated to become a genin. Their paths had never crossed, until now.

Several missions later, Kakashi arrived home in a wild state, and finding her apartment empty, Kakashi went straight to his room, sitting on his bed, staring off into space. In the early evening, Lina, unaware that Kakashi was home, slipped into his apartment through the kitchen window. She knew he was due to come back sometime today, but she had to find something of his first. Walking into the living room, she nearly screamed in shock as she saw Kakashi come out of the bedroom, wild-eyed.

"Kakashi! Oh gosh, I didn't know you were back!" She clutched a hand to her heart, breathing in deeply. In a flash, Kakashi appeared in front of her, grabbing her arms as he glared down at her.

"You weren't in your apartment. Where were you?"

Lina looked up at him, immediately recognizing the signs of one of his moods. Keeping her voice at normal level, she said, "I was training. What happened?" She watched Kakashi walk to the couch and flop down on it, and she slowly made her way to sit beside him. "Kashi?"

Kakashi stared at the blank television set facing the couch for a long time before he spoke. "I killed Obito. And Rin too." Lina furrowed her eyebrows. What? That didn't make any sense. She reached out to Kakashi slowly, softly placing her hand on his arm, seeing if he would react. He didn't, so she drew it up into his hair, petting it softly. After a few strokes, she watched him stir and slide down, his head coming to rest on her chest. Shifting to get more comfortable, Lina continued petting him, and slowly, Kakashi explained.

He told her of how Obito had changed his way of thinking about life as a shinobi, how he'd given up on Rin during the Third Great Shinobi War, but Obito wouldn't do the same. He told her how he got his Sharingan. He knew she'd probably heard rumors, but somehow, he still wanted to tell her. He told her how Obito had saved his life, only to lose his own. He told her of the promise he'd made to protect Rin, and then briefly, he told her how he'd failed, forced to kill her instead. He kept the details to himself as they were state secrets that were not to be divulged to anyone. He still didn't tell her of his father, so Lina thought that his previous attitude about following rules to the letter had been his personality. She didn't know how to react to that, but she secretly thanked Obito for showing him what was right. By the time he was done, Lina had her arms tight around him, as if to shield him from all the harm in the world. Kakashi's Sharingan eye spilled tears while his own remained dry, and Lina's heart ached knowing how hard his shell was, yet how vulnerable he was right now. That night, she truly realized just how human Hatake Kakashi was. And it made her feelings for him grow that much more.

Eventually, he told her of his father, and Lina finally understood everything.

It was odd. When he finally decided to tell her, they were training together. Lina had finally completed the Chidori and was working on creating her own version of it. As she stood panting, staring off into space as she thought and categorized all the information she'd acquired until now, Kakashi opened his mouth and began to speak. When he was done, they were sitting in the shade, and Lina's hand was on one of his.

She removed her hand from his and turned his face to face hers, looking deep into his eyes, not flinching or looking away when she saw the pain. She tucked her legs under herself to give her a lift and placed her forehead against his. "Kakashi, you have done more than enough to pay for your mistakes. You have so much good in you, do you know that?"

"No, Lina. I've made terrible mistakes, I was wrong so many times in my life. These good things I do, my being a so-called hero, it's nothing. It's all just repayment. It's my repentance for all of my mistakes." Kakashi shook his head hopelessly. Lina's heart melted as she heard him speak. She gathered him in her arms and hugged him tightly her voice breaking with emotion.

"No, Kashi, no. You've more than repaid your debts, you've done more than enough. Kashi, please believe me. You are _good_. You are _so_ good. Please, Kashi, don't think so little of yourself. Your sensei, your father, your teammates, I'm sure they're all looking down on you from heaven right now thinking the same thing I am. You've done enough. Please stop hurting yourself like this."

Kakashi dipped his face to rest on her shoulder and closed his eye. His Sharingan began to cry again, and he felt Lina perform the body flicker on them both, transporting them to her couch.

*poof*

"Lina-nee, you're back so-oh, hi Kakashi-san." Kei was sitting next to them, surprised that his sister was finished training so soon. He saw Kakashi's face buried against Lina's, and with a quick glance, he nodded to her and left the apartment. That look on Lina's face told him that they needed to be alone.

Lina felt Kei's chakra slowly move away, and she reached back and pulled Kakashi's mask down. Placing her forehead against his again, she whispered, "It's okay to feel, Kashi. It's okay."

Kakashi shook his head, having difficulty feeling anything except guilt, and even that had taken him Obito's death to truly feel. From a very young age, he'd been taught to be emotionless, to bury his feelings. Sure, his Sharingan cried much more easily than his own eye, but he figured it was because Obito had always been such a crybaby. He felt Lina caress his cheeks, and he kissed her softly.

Lina pulled Kakashi into her and cradled his head, kissing his forehead that was now leaned against her shoulder. She could see that it had taken him a very long time to feel anything, and she knew that he wouldn't let go that easily, but she still spoke calming words into his ear, whispering softly. Slowly, she felt Kakashi relax and drift off.

XXX

One day, Lina received a very special mission, one that only a kunoichi could fulfill. A seduction mission in strip club with heterosexual men as the targets. It was supposed to be long, at least a month long, but Tsunade shortened it to mere weeks as she was preparing to take the jounin exams soon. As she packed, Lina went through the mission details in her head. She was allowed one shinobi with her as a shield, but she'd declined. She was used to acting, she'd done it for years, but she'd be a lot better at it if she didn't know anyone around her. It was easier to fake when no one was scrutinizing her.

*Poof*

"Hey, baby, do you want to train with- oh, you have a mission?" Kakashi popped into her room, stilling as he saw her packing. Lina stopped and turned to him, readying herself.

"Hi. Yeah, I have to go for a few weeks."

"Oh...who's the target?" Kakashi sounded disappointed, and Lina smiled despite herself. She shook her head. "Just some guys. Nothing I can't handle." It was true. The missions was B-ranked, she would be fine. No rape, just touching and groping. Nothing she wasn't familiar with, although she hated to admit it. Even before she left the village, she'd done these sorts of missions before.

Kakashi nodded. His keen eye spotted a mission scroll half-concealed in clothing and he grabbed it, opening it to read. Lina tried to grab it out of his hands, but he was too fast for her. Kakashi skimmed through the contents of the scroll, his eye widening as he understood just what type of mission it was. Finishing, he handed it back to her, his eye trained on her face. Lina pursed her lips, not speaking.

"I thought you removed yourself from dangerous missions for the time being."

"I did. This isn't considered dangerous."

"Of course it is! Any seduction mission is dangerous." Kakashi's eye flashed as he remembered telling Sakura the exact same thing when she'd dismissed him for being overprotective of her. Any seduction mission had a set amount of danger. Rape could happen out of no where, all shinobi knew that.

Lina shook her head. "I know, but I'll be fine. I'm used to acting, remember?"

Kakashi's face hardened as he remembered her telling him everything. True, she'd spent most of her twenties faking her own personality, but this was still dangerous. Lina saw his train of thought cross his face and she reached out to him, touching his hand. "Kashi, think of it this way. Wouldn't you rather I did it-"

"-No, I wouldn't." Kakashi cut in stubbornly, but Lina shook her head. "No, let me finish. Wouldn't you rather I did it than Sakura, Ino, Hinata, or Tenten? Wouldn't you rather it were me, a grown woman who has more experience with this, than those girls, who yes, have the capability, but who are also still only 17 and 18? They're still so young, they can afford to be sheltered just a little. They already know what the world is like, and they've each done several of these missions themselves. Even Hinata, you can see that her eyes are starting to lose the sparkle it once had. Wouldn't you rather they kept that sparkle for a little while longer?"

"But what about you?"

"I'm fine. I am stable. I won't be tainted if anything happened, because I'm already too tainted anyways. You know it's true. I can't do much, but in this way, I can at least protect the girls from this one mission." Lina spoke earnestly, and Kakashi sighed. He reached up to caress her cheek and said softly, "I know it's your duty, but there is no need for you to go out of your way like that."

Lina smiled up and him and said wryly, "The same could be said about you, right?" Kakashi's lips twitched and he smiled reluctantly. The same old argument again, but she was right. Finally, he nodded and said, "Fine. Just be careful."

Lina nodded, smiling, and continued packing. "Always."

XXX

Two and a half weeks later, Lina trudged into her apartment complex, glad that the jounin in the building were used to seeing their fellow neighbors torn up and dripping with blood, unlike the civilians, who's all stopped and stared as she walked by. She made her way up to her apartment and opened the door.

"Lina nee-" "-Oh my God. Are you alright?" Kei and Katsumi came out of the kitchen, apparently eating their dinner, and their eyes nearly popped out of their heads as they took in her appearance. Lina nodded wearily and dropped her pack, making her way to her room. Immediately, she felt Kakashi inside, and she smiled, pausing.

"He's been there for the last few days, only coming out to eat. I think he's waiting for you." Kei supplied helpfully, and Lina's smile grew. She opened the door.

"Hey, Kashi."

Kakashi's nose had long since picked up a scent. That's right, _a_ scent. Not hers, although he could now detect it faintly. No, he'd picked up blood, semen, sex, sweat, and at least 3 men's scents mingled together. He watched the door open to reveal a very tattered-looking Lina, her clothes torn, her hair undone, her eyes dark with badly-removed heavy makeup. Blood dripped down her body, and he could see stains that were not blood or sweat. He let out a deep growl as he looked at her. He knew what these types of missions normally entailed, but this was way beyond his expectations. She'd said that there would be no rape, so what was with all the smell of sex?

"What happened?"

"It's a lot worse than it looks."

"What…?!" Kakashi growled, his eyes flashing as his uncovered Sharingan span wildly. Lina shook her head quickly.

"Wait, no. Sorry, I meant, it's not as bad as it looks. Most of the blood isn't mine."

"You smell like sex. Did they rape you?" Kakashi spat out the words, hating the taste of them on his tongue. Lina shook her head. "Not vaginal or anal, no." _'Oral, yes, but only so I could get information. Not that I'm going to tell _you_ that.'_

Kakashi shook his head, his eyes darkening, and he asked harshly, "Are they at least dead?" Lina smiled. "All dead and accounted for. Intel was good too. Mission completed." Kakashi nodded tersely before he said quietly, "And you? Are you alright?"

Lina's gaze softened and she said, "I will be after I get their smell off of me. I'm going to take a bubble bath." Kakashi nodded, getting up. Lina turned towards the door before she turned back.

Kakashi looked down at her and said, "I'm coming with you."

Lina shook her head. "No." Kakashi's jaws tightened and he said, "Why not?" Lina looked into his face and said, "I smell like a prostitute. I don't want you coming near me when I'm like this. Let me clean up first." Kakashi could understand that, but he still shook his head. "I'm coming in with you. I want to make sure you're alright." Lina sighed, exhausted already, and waved her hand. "Fine, whatever. I'm too tired to argue."

Walking into the bathroom, Lina gingerly stripped and surveyed her own body, feeling Kakashi's stare on her as well. As far as she could tell, she had a few cracked ribs and two cuts, one on her lower back, and a shallow one on her décolleté area. "Not bad, for taking on a big group of shinobi." She watched Kakashi shake his head disapprovingly at her, and she slowly rinsed off the blood., washing her hair and cleaning off her body as best as she could. When she was done, she filled the bathtub, rubbing healing salve on her body as she waited for it to fill. When it was full, she sank into the bathtub, wincing and groaning as the hot water made contact with her wounds. She'd used special 'bubbles' with healing properties in the bubble bath, the eucalyptus in the healing salve acting as another healing property. She closed her eyes and relaxed, not stirring when she felt Kakashi moving beside her.

Kakashi watched Lina sink into the bathtub, and he began to strip himself. She was now clean, in the sense that there was no blood or anything on her, but he could still see her the way she'd been when she walked in the bedroom door. He finished stripping and got in the tub with her, lowering himself and wading over to sit beside her with his arm around her. The smell of mint and eucalyptus filled his nostrils, and he knew that it was masking any remaining scent on her body. He brought her closer to him, feeling her tense when one of her cracked ribs were rubbed the wrong way. They sat like that for nearly 20 minutes, not saying anything.

Finally, Lina stirred, and they both got up slowly, Kakashi helping her dry herself and pull on clothes again. "Do you need to go to the hospital?" He realized that it was a little late to be asking this, but she was wincing now more than she'd been when she'd first walked in. Lina shook her head. "Just some more healing salve and I'll be fine." Kakashi raised an eyebrow at her and said, "You're not just saying that because you hate the hospital, are you?"

Lina smirked and said, "No. I'm not you." She watched Kakashi's face soften and she stuck out her tongue at him before she said, "Thanks though." Kakashi said nothing, helping her walk to her bedroom and then helping her into her bed to lay down. He made sure she was settled in before he got up. Just as he stood up, he felt Lina's hand on his arm.

"You're going?" Lina had missed him. She was too tired to actually do anything, but that didn't mean that she wanted to be alone. Kakashi paused and said, "You want me to stay?" He'd thought that she would want to be alone, but he supposed that since it was a successful mission, she was alright with a little company.

Lina nodded and tugged on his arm gently. "Come back to bed."

Kakashi turned back to her and crawled in next to her, careful to watch how his hands touched her. Lina laid her head back down on her pillow, and she slowly drifted off to sleep. It was a good thing she'd packed the mandatory rape kit provided by the Shinobi hospital for all kunoichi (and rarely, male shinobi) who went on these sorts of missions. She'd tested herself, and she was free of all diseases and parasites. She could do a check up tomorrow. Tonight, she was going to sleep with her boyfriend and lover.

XXX

Training was proving to be fruitful (finally!), as Lina found herself seeking out several different sparring partners to improve herself overall. Gai and Lee were thrilled to have her join their sparring sessions, although she made them swear that they wouldn't make her go through their crazy self-induced rule training, much to their disappointment. The training with the taijutsu tag-team proved very helpful, as Lina found herself improving on speed to match against them, although the first few times she came home, she was so battered and bruised that Kakashi's eyes had flashed with anger, saying that she was taking things too far (yet again). Of course, it didn't help when Lina finally found a way to keep up with the duo, only to have them remove some of their weights and exponentially multiply their speed

"Huff...huff...E-enough, guys. I-I'm done." Lina panted, sweating profusely. The tag team beamed their brightest smiles at her. Gai threw out a thumbs up and said, "Well done, Lina-chan! You kept up with us for so long, you have excellent stamina!"

"Gai-sensei is right! Your form, your speed, even your strength is improving! After a 5 minute break, how about we go at it again?" Le put in, and Lina groaned, shaking her head.

"No way. I'm going to need a two week vacation after what you guys put me through."

"Now now, no one ever got anywhere by complaining." Gai wagged his finger at her annoyingly, and Lina rolled her eyes. Quirking up a smile, she said, "Same time next week?" The duo blinded her with their smiles and she grinned back.

"Oi, Lina! Are you ready yet?" Lina turned to see Ino waving at her, Shikamaru and Choji following behind her, and she waved back.

"Hey Ino. Give me a break, these two took off their weights today! I need at least an hour before we can train."

"Oh ho! You're training with Ino-san! Excellent. Good to see you're well-rounded." Lee said approvingly, and Lina shook her head.

"I'm actually working with the Ino-Shika-Cho team today. I have no idea what they're going to throw at me for the exams, but if I can pull my own weight against one of Konoha's best trios, there shouldn't be much that they can throw at me that I can't handle...right?" They were now nearly 2 months away from the exams, and Lina was starting to get really nervous, not that she was showing it to anyone.

"True, true." Gai nodded. Lina waved goodbye to the duo and walked over to her new sparring partners.

XXX

"Achoo!" Kakashi hurriedly pulled away from kissing Lina as he felt an oncoming sneeze about to hit him, turning away just in time for it to be let out. Lina opened her eyes and looked up, surprised. She knew that he had a sensitive nose, so perfumes were almost always off-limits unless she dialed it way down, so she wasn't wearing anything.

"Kashi, do you have a cold?" Lina asked, concerned. Kakashi shook his head. "I don't know, maybe."

Several days later found Kakashi laying in bed, coughing and sneezing up a storm as Lina sat beside him. Holding a steaming bowl of soup, Lina said, "Here, drink it. It'll help."

Kakashi sniffed the soup and turned his head. "I want miso soup." He whined, sounding like a child, and Lina giggled. Smoothing his hair out of his fevered brow, Lina said gently, "I made this. You're not going to tell me that you won't drink it when I worked so hard on it, are you?"

Kakashi groaned and took another sniff. It smelled good, but he _really_ wanted miso soup. Coughing wetly, he asked, "What is it?" Lina smiled.

"Chicken soup with thyme, a little ginger, and some spice to help with that nose. It tastes good, I promise." She watched Kakashi nod and she giggled. Oh, she loved seeing him act like a little boy. Taking a small spoonful, she blew on it to cool it before she placed it in his mouth. She watched his face light up as he tasted the tangy lemon she'd added, and she asked, "Good?"

"Good." Kakashi nodded, groaning as his head spun slightly, but he soon forgot about it when another spoonful was placed on his lips. He finished the bowl quickly and sighed back into bed, closing his eye tiredly.

Lina watched him fondly and placed the bowl down. Just before leaving, she bent down to give him a sweet kiss. Kakashi felt lips touch his mouth and he moved back automatically.

"Mm! Lina, you'll catch my cold!" He watched Lina shake her head and smile, bending back down to kiss him again. "I don't care." She felt him smile against her lips as they kissed slowly.

XXX

"ACHOO!" Lina moaned as she laid in bed, her hands on her head with Kakashi shaking his head at her as he sat beside her on the bed.

"See? I told you you'd get my cold." Kakashi watched Lina sniffle, her hair in disarray from laying in bed for two days, her nose adorably red, her eyes slightly red and puffy too. She shook her head and said nasally, "It was totally worth it." She watched him shake his head, a small smile peeking through, and she grinned up at him before she sneezed again. "Achoo! Urgh…"

Kakashi chuckled and bent down to kiss her, only to feel her pull back as he'd done for her. "What?"

"I'm all oozing and gross." She didn't want him to feel like he had to kiss her just because she had kissed him. Kakashi shook his head again and pulled her into a deep kiss. "I don't care either." He let his tongue move into her mouth, playing with her lightly before he slowly extracted himself and crawled into bed next to her, his arm wrapped around her shoulder as he pulled her to rest her head on his chest. She, in turn, completely ruined the moment by succumbing to a bout of hacking coughs, making him grimace and her groan yet again, but she was soon laying down on his chest again.

"Still worth it?" Kakashi had to ask.

"Abso-fucking-lutely." Lina croaked out, and Kakashi smiled.

XXX

Between everything that was going on, Lina still found time to go out on 'dates' with Raidou. Their increased friendliness began to grate on Kakashi's nerves, since she was now so comfortable with him that she could readily hug him in public, something that she rarely did with him. Lina, not realizing that he was actually serious, often poked fun or dismissed his feelings. How could he be serious? He was Kashi, one of the more important people in her life (possibly one of the most important people, although she'd not admitted it, yet). He had no need to feel jealous, since she'd never shown any interest in other men. Her relationship with Raidou was purely friendship.

Yet, Kakashi didn't view things the same way.

"You don't see what I see. Raidou follows you around like a puppy." Kakashi insisted as Lina groaned yet again. They were in his apartment with Lina closer to the door as she'd tried to walk out several times, only to be pulled back in by him.

"Kakashi, stop this! Raidou and I are just friends. He's your friend too, isn't he? And, you don't see me complaining when you talk to Kurenai, or Anko, or Sakura, for God's sake!"

"That's because Kurenai's pregnant, Anko's too…Anko, and Sakura...well, Sakura's my student!" Kakashi said, exasperated.

"No, she _was_ your student, she's your teammate now." Lina reminded him, shaking her head. She loved to see him jealous, but having the same old arguments was getting annoying.

"Regardless, that's just wrong. She's so much younger than me, she's practically half my age!"

"Yeah, but she's pretty, smart, and strong."

"Lina, you…are you jealous of Sakura?" Kakashi thought he'd finally figured her out, but Lina shook her head.

"No! I'm just making my point. She's everything that I'm not. No-no, don't even start. She is, and yet I don't complain about her or any of the other girls who circle you. So why can't you let Raidou and I have that kind of friendship?"

"Lina, you…" Kakashi sighed and pulled her further into the apartment and into his arms. Pulling away, he tilted her chin up to look into her eyes and said softly yet firmly, "You told me that I was good. You told me that I had to stop torturing myself. Well, now I'm saying those words back to you. You are...amazing. You are. You don't give yourself enough credit, and it hurts me. You are just as good as any of those other girls. You are so strong, you are smart, and yes, Lina, you are beautiful. You don't see it, but you are."

Lina's throat tightened as she felt Kakashi's words hit home. She still had trouble believing him, even now, months after their relationship had begun. But each time he said it, each time he whispered in her ear how incredible she was while they had sex, or how beautiful she was in private moments like this, Lina slowly felt herself beginning to trust his words. And that was bad, because she needed to keep up her shields. If she didn't and they broke up, she would be more broken than ever, that much she knew. It was better to stay on guard at all times, regardless of how you feel. Right?

She dropped her face into his chest, eyes squeezed shut as she fought against herself and the years of deep scars she'd kept in her heart. With Kakashi's arms around her, she felt her resolve to remain protected slowly crumble. Maybe, just maybe, Kakashi was right. Just a little. Even if he was a jealous control freak when it came to Raidou.

XXX

But, several weeks later, Kakashi was once again irritated with Lina and Raidou's closeness. For approximately three weeks, or 2 weeks, 4 days, 20 hours, 15 minutes, and 36 seconds if you asked Kakashi, Lina and Raidou had become even closer than before, often slipping away to have small chats, coming back with smiles on their faces. But when he asked, Lina just dismissed it, saying that he was over thinking again. But Kakashi knew something was up.

"Kakashi, that's enough. Raidou is friends with both of us. You trust him. You trust me, right? Then there shouldn't be a problem." Lina said dismissively, her back turned away from him. She was packing for a mission that unfortunately also happened to include Raidou, along with Sakura and Tenten, though the latter two weren't the problem.

"I don't understand why he wants you to be there. It's not like he needs you-"

"Kakashi, enough!" Lina whirled around, her eyes flashing. She understood the feeling of jealousy, but it was completely unfounded. She never looked at anyone except him. She never strayed, despite them never saying they were exclusive. No, they hadn't had that 'talk' yet. But to her, she only wanted him. So why couldn't he understand that? Besides, she had a reason for being so close to Raidou recently. Yes, she had been that way purposely. But she couldn't tell Kakashi why. Not yet.

"No, it's not enough! I've seen you two together. You smile with him, and laugh with him." Kakashi's visible eye darkened as his Sharingan began to spin.

"So what?! I smile and laugh with half the village!" Lina threw up her hands, the task of packing going ignored.

"Not like that, you don't." Kakashi shot back. They stood facing each other, tension and anger forming an almost palpable electricity between them. Finally, Lina relaxed and shook her head.

"I don't want to fight. I'm going on a mission tomorrow. Regardless of how easy it seems, we both know that it's the ones we let our guards down for that get us killed. Please, Kakashi, believe me when I say that Raidou is just a friend. Saying that he and I have something going on is like saying Gai and I have something going on. Or Genma. Or...Aoba, or Yamato. Anyway, the point is, there's nothing." Lina walked over and reached towards him, stopping as she saw him turn away and pull back. Dropping her hands, Lina sighed and continued packing, not turning around when she felt Kakashi body flicker away.

Three weeks later, Lina sped home, cursing herself for being a week late. She pushed her team to the limit as they rushed back despite Raidou being the leader. She impatiently waited for Raidou to let them go before she all but ran back to her apartment. Bursting in, she dropped her bags on the floor.

"Nee-chan! Welcome back. I think there's airmail for you, there are a couple of birds waiting outside your window." Katsumi hugged her sister and watched her flee to her bedroom, slamming the door shut. Lina whirled around to see the three birds she'd been expecting. Grinning, she made her way over to them.

XXX

Later that evening, Lina was at the bar with the usual crowd. She hadn't been able to find Kakashi in his apartment, so she'd left him a note in hopes that he would join her. They'd left things on rocky terms, but she hoped that he'd forgotten their little spat. Luckily, Kakashi came and joined them, although he did seem slightly icy towards her throughout the night.

Finally, it was time to go home. Before they left, Lina grabbed Raidou and quickly pulled him away, not noticing Kakashi's narrowed eyes as he followed them and listened.

"So? Did you get everything?" Raidou asked. Lina's eyes danced with excitement as she nodded. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

"Yeah! Thank you so much, Rai. I know it couldn't have been easy for you, so thank you." Kakashi clenched his jaw as he watched his girlfriend hug his friend. True, it was a 'thank you' hug, but still. Too close for his comfort.

Raidou hugged her back and chuckled. "I'm glad. You're welcome, I 'm glad I could help."

"Oh, you did! I couldn't have gotten everything without your help." Lina broke away to give him a kiss on the cheek, expressing her thanks. Just then, she felt a presence and heard a low growl. Turning, they saw Kakashi staring at them.

"Kakashi…" Lina said, surprised. She shivered as she felt his anger directed towards her and Raidou. Immediately realizing that he was mistaking things, Lina reached towards him uselessly. "Kakashi, no. This isn't-"

"Save it." Kakashi growled as he turned and stalked away. He wasn't the jealous type. He wasn't. But this...this was too much. It had taken him months for her to be that comfortable with him, and Raidou just got to hug her like that without being her boyfriend? What's more, she'd_ kissed_ him. Kissed _him_. Unacceptable.

Lina quickly ran to catch up with him, trying to explain, but Kakashi simply body flickered away. Lina followed him, guessing correctly that he was going to his apartment.

*Poof*

*Poof*

"Kakashi, stop." Lina grabbed his arm, but Kakashi flung her hand off.

"Get out of my apartment."

"No. Not until you've heard what I want to say."

"I don't want to hear what you have to say. I _trusted_ you. You know how hard that is for me. You go on a mission, and he suddenly becomes-what? What is he? Your fuck buddy? Or is he your new 'boyfriend'?" Kakashi regretted the words as soon as he said them. No, he didn't actually think that low of her. He was just angry. No, that was an understatement. He was at his boiling point.

"Stop it. Kakashi, Raidou was helping me with somethin-"

"Yeah, I'll bet he was. Who's next, Genma? You always say you hate him, but maybe he's next on your bucket list of things to _do_." Kakashi spat out. _ 'No, no, stop talking.'_

Lina slapped him across the face, her own face hard. Hands shaking, Lina pulled out an object-summoning scroll and summoned two boxes, one of them wrapped with a big blue bow while the other was clear, and he could see that it held a cake. She placed the two boxes on the living room table before she walked back to the door.

Turning as she was about to leave, Lina said harshly, "That's what Raidou was helping me with. Happy birthday, Kakashi." She walked out and closed the door, still shaking.

Kakashi watched Lina go before he walked to the couch and fell on top of it, a hand covering his face as he closed his eyes and sighed. He opened his eyes again and their gaze fell on the two boxes. Leaning forwards, he reached towards the gift-wrapped one, pulling it onto his lap, his curiosity getting the better of him. He slowly unwrapped the paper and ribbon (which he had to admit was pretty nice) and saw the present inside. Or should he say, presents. He ran his fingers along each spine, his palms smoothing over each cover, his eyes wide, until he finally reached a cream colored envelope addressed to him at the bottom of the box.

_**'Dear Kashi,**_

_**Happy birthday! It's a week belated, I know, and I'm so sorry. I would have gotten these to you faster, but you know how missions are :( Do you like your presents? They're all limited edition copies of the Icha Icha volumes. I know you have some of them already, so I took the liberty of going through your collection to see which ones you didn't have. You're always saying how much you love my copies, so I thought you might like some of your own. There are 10 in total, all from different Hidden Villages. As you know, each hidden village has its own limited edition copy of each first volume of Icha Icha Paradise, Violence, and Tactics, complete with all the extra scenes and notes. I hope you like them! **_

_**And Kashi? This is what Raidou and I were doing all those times we were alone. He helped me plan and organize getting all of the books. So don't be mad at him anymore, alright? Really, there's nothing going on between us. I hope you know that.**_

_**Oh, I almost forgot, the cake! I know, I know, you don't like sweets. But it's your birthday! So, I called in a favor. Remember the family I stayed with that taught me how to cook? Well, they had a friend who was a really good pastry chef. I asked them to ask him to make a non-sweet cake. It's called a St. Honore Cake, and he said he put less sugar than normal. I hope you like it! I wrote all of this in case I couldn't give these to you myself. If I did…well, then I'm just reiterating myself all over again ^^**_

_**Love, **_

_**Lina x'**_

Kakashi dropped the card and looked over at the cake, seeing tiny profiteroles circling the border of the top layer of cake. On the inside, Kakashi could smell the salty caramel icing that read, "Happy birthday, Kakashi!" Kakashi's heart dropped to his stomach as he realized his mistake. Pushing the books off of his lap, Kakashi walked out of his apartment, sending his chakra out to find Lina.

Inside her apartment, Lina stripped off out of her civilian clothes and stepped into the shower, sighing as the heat of the water pounded on her skin. She'd taken a bath after arriving, but she really needed to relax right now, after her argument with Kakashi. Honestly, what was he thinking? How could he say those things to her? Lina shook her head, trying to get the thoughts out of her head.

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Hold on." Kei muttered as he walked to the door. Who was knocking so insistently out there? He opened the door to see Kakashi, bare-faced, staring down at him.

"Where is she?" Kakashi asked quickly. Kei, having never seen Kakashi's face before, blushed and pointed to the bathroom. Seeing him walk towards it, Kei stammered out, "She's taking a shower!"

Kakashi ignored his #1 fan and tried to open the door. Locked. He made the appropriate seals and transported himself into the bathroom.

Lina felt two arms wrap around her as she washed herself, and she stilled, recognizing the feel.

"I'm an idiot." Kakashi murmured, his head bent down under the spray of the water. Lina bent her head down to study his arms, the only part she could actually see of him. She could see that he was still fully clothed.

"You're going to get soaked." Lina said softly but not kindly. She understood that he was apologizing, but she was still mad.

'I don't care." Kakashi bent down to kiss her temple, her cheek, her jawline. He could see that she had been in the middle of soaping up, and he now had soap on him as well, having pressed his body against hers. He kissed as far as he could before he met the soap, feeling her yield to him.

Lina closed her eyes and leaned into him as she felt Kakashi kiss her neck. She slowly turned around, her hands coming up to his soaked uniform. Looking into his eyes, Lina could see him laying himself bare for her to see. Softly, she asked, "You read the note?" She watched Kakashi nod.

"I did. I'm sorry. I'm such an idiot."

Lina sighed, her hands dropping back to her sides as she stood in front of him, no longer as concerned that she was naked as she would be months ago. She turned around and continued washing, ignoring Kakashi. He in turn knew that she was still mad. He reached his hands out to softly touch her shoulders, moving in slow circles as he attempted to help her clean herself as a way of silently apologizing, but Lina twisted away from him and stepped out of his reach. Now, it was his turn to plead.

"Lina...please. I'm sorry." Kakashi's voice, full of emotion, almost made Lina turn back around, but she stood firm.

"What you said hurt, Kakashi." Kakashi winced. Her voice was hard, and the way she said his name, not Kashi, not Kakashi-kun, Ka-kun, not Ka-ka-ahh-shi or any variation of it the way she did when they were in bed, just Kakashi. It was horrible. He stepped closer to her and wrapped both hands around her and fit his chin above her head the way he loved and knew she loved too. He felt her stiffen, but he stayed there.

"Lina, I-…" Kakashi didn't know what else to say. He'd said something terrible to her, he'd really hurt her with his jealousy, and now he had nothing in his arsenal that could help him. As he thought of what to say, he felt Lina stir in his arms. He tightened his hold around her, thinking that she was going to get away again.

"Let go of me, Kashi." Lina's voice was softer, much softer. It was sad, and hearing it stung Kakashi's heart. He slowly let go of her and watched her turn around. Lina turned to look at Kakashi, her eyes downcast.

"Kashi, do you understand now? The entire time you thought I was with Raidou, all we ever did was plan how to get the presents for you. All I've ever done is put you first, at least when I'm with Raidou. Why couldn't you see that?"

"I do. I do see it now. I just...I don't like the thought of you being with someone else." Kakashi verbalized his emotions, and Lina's heart sank.

She pulled him down, their noses touching, before she said, "I'm not with anyone but you. And even if we've never talked about it, I don't want anyone else. I don't need anyone else. Got it?"

Kakashi nodded, staring into her eyes. He spoke just barely above a whisper"Got it." Lina let her grip soften with her gaze as she whispered back, "Good."

She finally reached her hands up to his now-soaked and matted down hair, pulling him in for a soft kiss. Kakashi pulled her closer, kissing her harder as he stared into her still open eyes. He pushed her backwards, stopping as he felt her groan in discomfort when she felt the shower faucet dig into her. He felt her hands disappear as she attempted to turn off the water, but she must have not pushed down all the way, because they were left gasping when cold water sprang from the shower head. Shivering, Lina pushed down fully with her hands and brought them back to Kakashi's face, tilting her head and pressing herself against him as she allowed him to kiss her deeply.

Kakashi turned her and pushed her to the shower wall, using her cold-induced gasp to push his tongue into her mouth. Both of their eyes slid shut as his hands caught hers, bringing them to the wall as he pushed up against her. Loosening her grip on his hands, Lina slid her hands out from under his own and grabbed his front, clawing at his shoulders. Kakashi grunted and lifted her up as she straddled him. He felt her shivering from the cold, their kisses growing sloppy, and he broke the kiss to bite on her neck. Lina jumped at the feel, her head bending down to rest on his shoulder before she pushed him away and slipped her hands into his shirt.

Dropping her feet back to the ground, Lina began pulling Kakashi's uniform off, the weight of the water-soaked shirt giving her some difficulty as it clung to his body. But soon, she had it off, and she dropped it outside in the empty laundry basket. Coming back to him, Lina ran her hands up his chest, about to kiss it when she felt him stop her.

"Let me." Kakashi whispered, bending down to reach her. He'd messed up, so he should be the one to satisfy her, not the other way around. He bent as far down as he could, kissing her neck, her shoulders, her chest. She was now soap-less, since she'd been under the water so long, so he could kiss and lick more of her. He dropped to his knees, his arms loosely around her as he licked the water off of her breasts, feeling her hands come up to his shoulders. Slowly licking and wetly kissing and sucking on her skin, Kakashi stroked her back gently as he move further down, to her stomach. He dipped his tongue into her belly button as he felt her stomach muscles tense. And then, he went lower.

Lina dropped her head down to watch as Kakashi kissed his way down her body, her face impassive. Just as he was about to make contact with her lower entrance, Lina pulled him back up, shaking her head. Kissing him sweetly, Lina fumbled on his pants, unbuttoning them quickly. She pushed them down heavily, his boxers following quickly, before she wrapped her arms around his middle as she laid her head on his chest, both of them naked now. Kakashi hugged her too, his hands mapping out her body again as they stood shivering. Lina flipped on the shower function again, unable to bear the cold, and they relaxed under the warm spray of water.

After a moment, Lina felt Kakashi's lower half twitch, and she smiled into his chest despite herself. She pushed him away slightly and slid her hands down his body to grab hold of it, pumping him slowly. She looked up as Kakashi drew in a sharp breath, and she watched him expose himself to her. Slowly, slowly, she built him up, palming the tip of his length as she pumped him with one hand. After a few moments, he was leaning into her, his hips moving to meet her hand, and a few seconds later, Kakashi let out a deep, grunt, fluid spilling out onto her hands before it slid down into the drain. Lina watched Kakashi pant, his black eye dark with lust. Not giving him a break, Lina held him in her hands and pumped him again as she watched his expression change to surprise and pleasure.

She continued, letting him release in her hands only to build him up again, waiting for what she knew he would eventually ask.

"Enough, Lina. I want to be inside you." Kakashi panted as he came for the third time, feeling Lina continue as if nothing had happened. She shook her head. "You're only getting my hands. Nothing more."

"Wha- but ahh! Lina, no, I'm going to co-ahhh." Kakashi released again, his fourth time, his limit. Lina watched him, but seeing as he could still stand pretty steadily, she figured that he would be fine. She carefully peeled him back, letting the water hit his hidden sensitive spots before she ran her fingers along the very same areas.

"Ahh, Lina stop!" Kakashi knew what she was doing, they'd done this sort of play before, but never when he was this spent. Immediately, he felt Lina's hands disappear. Opening his eyes, Kakashi saw Lina looking up at him, face still impassive. She saw him watching her, and she turned to face the water again, reaching for the soap once more.

Kakashi watched Lina about to continue showering, and he quickly turned her around. He stared at her, not speaking.

"You told me to stop." Lina said, and Kakashi groaned.

"Lina…" She stared up at him before she said, "Turn around." Kakashi complied, and felt Lina's hands wrap around his middle. They began to trail down his body until they reached his length. With one hand, she held him loosely as she probed his lower back with her other hand. Finding what she was looking for, Lina sent out her chakra carefully, directing it into his body, towards his prostate. Kakashi felt a sudden surge of pleasure and he groaned.

"Wha-ah what are you doing?"

Lina shushed him. "Just feel it." She concentrated again, sending chakra pulses into his body, and without any warning, Kakashi came in her hand, groaning loudly as he fell back onto her. Lina quickly caught him and brought him down to the ground. That was his fifth orgasm, and he was exhausted.

"Do you know what I just did?"

Kakashi shook his head. He'd never had that done to him before, but it was amazing. Ecstasy at its highest form.

Lina explained. "I sent out my chakra into your body, hitting your prostate."

"Where did you learn to do that?"

"From Shizune, with a little help from Ino. It was supposed to be your third and final birthday present. Supposedly, it feels really good."

Kakashi reached towards her to kiss her softly. "That felt incredible." He felt Lina pull back just before contact and get up, getting out of the shower. He watched her begin to dress before he too got out of there. Seeing as his clothes were soaked, Kakashi created a small fire in his hand and quickly dried them. Just as he was about to put them on, he saw Lina, fully clothes, move to the door. He grabbed her hands and quickly pulled her back. He saw that despite their little session, she was still hurt, so he hugged her from behind. Lina stilled as she felt Kakashi hold her. Slowly, she turned to Kakashi, her face down in his chest.

"I hate you." Lina spoke softly, and Kakashi pulled back.

"What?"

"I hate you. You...you make me feel like this, so I hate you. I hate fighting with you, I hate not speaking to you, I hate not being near you. But most of all, I hate you for making me feel like this." Lina's voice shook as she spoke. As she spoke, she reflected on how far she'd come. Months ago, she'd never have said such a thing to anyone. She would never be in this position, her heart needing someone so deeply. Months ago, it would have just been sex, and she would have left him at the mere mention of being his girlfriend. But now, with Kakashi...she was a completely different person. Or, she was her old self again, but more mature. And he'd been the one to change her.

Kakashi looked as Lina stood in front of him in silence. He pulled her to him, kissing her fiercely. He still couldn't vocalize his emotions well, so he used his actions to show her instead. Holding her firmly, Kakashi crushed his lips into hers, pushing her against the sink. He braced himself against the counter as he kissed her, cradling her head in his hand. Eventually, but not soon enough, he felt her relax and melt into him like she always did, her hands coming up to pull his shirt to bring him closer to her. As he kissed her, he felt her lips tremble, and he returned to soft pecks, gently nuzzling her nose with his own. He felt her swallow, her lips still shaky, and he slowed his kisses, moving onto her cheek, her jaw, her nose, and finally, her forehead, before he hugged her tightly.

Lina felt Kakashi's arms come up to crush her against him again, and she closed her eyes. She hated sounding so needy, so…stereotypically feminine. She'd worked so hard to keep a tough exterior, but now, Kakashi had pretty much ruined that for her. She was no longer the girl who could henge into a beautiful woman and walk into a bar and walk out with any man she chose. No, she now only sought one man, and of course she knew that made her weak. But, no matter how weak she felt, she still clung to their bond, desperately hoping that he would feel the same way as her, one day. She felt the familiar feeling in her stomach as Kakashi transported them out of the bathroom and into her room.

Kakashi let go of Lina as soon as they arrived in her bedroom, crossing the room in long strides to reach and close the door, locking it. Before he did so, he shot a meaningful look at Kei, who blushed and turned away, remembering seeing him mask-less. Turning back, Kakashi crossed back towards her and softly caressed her cheek as he bent down to capture her lips. Lina turned her head away just as Kakashi reached her, and crawled into bed, curling up facing away from him. Kakashi watched Lina leave, and he slowly walked and bent down next to her, looking into her open eyes.

Lina's eyes darted away from Kakashi's, and her eyes darkened. She could let him touch her, kiss her, even hold her, but she couldn't forgive him. She felt Kakashi crawl into bed behind her and hesitantly wrap his arm around her waist. Not feeling her resist, Kakashi slowly pulled her towards him, but then stopped when he felt her tense up. He wanted to be closer to her. If she wouldn't let him move her, he'd just have to go to her. Kakashi wiggled closer to her and snuck his arms all around her, his face planted in her still-damp hair.

Lina felt Kakashi's arms around her, and she closed her eyes. She wanted to push him away. She wanted to pull him closer. She wanted…she wanted him to trust her more. She placed her hands over Kakashi's and squeezed them slightly. This was as close as he was getting to forgiveness tonight.

-end

Author's note: Ahhh, it's good to be back! There was lots of family drama, and I feel like I need a vacation from my vacation =.= The first time I have a vacation in over 4 years, and I immediately wanted to come back… By the way, is there anyone out there who is able to tell me how to tell a relative that they've overstayed their welcome? I can't just blurt it out or I'll be kicked out of the house by my parents, but seriously…the relative is grating on one of my last nerves. Urgh, well anyway. I'm home, and I'm back to writing. Yay!

So, this chapter was super long, and I split it up, so you're only getting the author's note in this second part. It's basically a bit of a fast-forward through their relationship, going through the highlights and funny moments, the funeral, her ascension to leadership, their first date (which I loved writing, by the way XD), how they get closer, how Lina and Kakashi finally tell each other about their pasts, and I put in a bit of argument just cuz no relationship is perfect (obviously). I know, it's cliché to make Kakashi jealous, but it's nice to know he's not too perfect right? He's still human…ish. Well, a manga/anime character, but otherwise, he's still human.

Oh God, I had that bondage scene in my Notes section for ages! Ever since like the 3rd or 4th chapter, I think. Really emotional, and now I'm finally able to write it for you guys.

Oh and by the way, that whole 'he got a cold, then she caught it from him' was from How I Met Your Mother. Yeah, that wasn't my idea, but don't you find it adorable?! Ted and Robin forever! Oh gosh, I wish it were her...they were perfect! Ahh, I digress.

So, what did you think about the chapter overall, both parts? Like I said in the beginning, I recommend you re-reading the first part before you read this one, because they were meant to be read together. Nonetheless, I hope this part was a good read. It was definitely darker and more…tense than the previous one, and the emotions were far deeper.

Next chapter is going to be…well, you'll see. It might be a little long and boring for those of you who aren't specific on the details, but I feel like I'd like to keep the details in this time. I skipped over most of the missions both Kakashi and Lina go on, so in this one case, the details matter. At least, to me. The chapter should be up in about a week or so because it'll be kind of long. Till then, Ja ne!

***EDIT: As always, please please please review, comment, say something! I really do lose my confidence when people don't write in, especially when I see so many consistent reads and so many numbers. Please? If you want to rant, rave, criticize, compliment, whatever it is, please write something before you leave. Thank you to Helli for reviewing every single time, you are amazing.***


	29. Chapter 27

**Something I wanted to mention, just cuz it's somewhat relevant to the story: right after the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime, the Pain arc starts. Now, I personally want to develop more of the Lina/Kakashi/rest of the gang's relationships, so I'm stretching the time frame just a bit. Pain invasion won't come for a few chapters.**

As always, please review, comment, write something! I'm dying to know what you guys think. Ja ne! ;)

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. I do, however, own any original ideas or characters (such as Sasaki Lina) that I have created.

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Sasaki Lina is 29. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: **the Pain arc is still going to happen, I'm making Sasuke come back too, but Shinobi Alliance arc is still going to happen, as well as anything that didn't directly involve him in the anime/manga.** I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?)

_**PLEASE REVIEW! COMMENT, ANYTHING! THANKS :D**_

_*****Please note that this is a darker chapter. It contains torture and rape scenes, although not in the reality of the story. You'll get what I mean when you get there. It's pretty graphic, but it's also a very short scene.*****_

_**Chapter 27**_

Lina eventually forgave Kakashi, after a few days of puppy-dog eyes that ended up making her grin wryly at the growing ridiculousness of his ever-growing pout. But she had one condition.

"You need to apologize to Raidou." Lina said firmly, and Kakashi sighed. He knew this was coming, but he still didn't like it.

"I know…" Lina's gaze softened as she heard him say that resignedly, and she kissed him softly.

The next day, Kakashi went with Lina to pay the man a visit. Standing in the doorway, Kakashi ignored Lina's pointed stare and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, his gaze away from Raidou.

"Soo…ehehe…" He laughed nervously. After a few moments of silence, Raidou sighed and shook his head. "It's already been forgotten." He understood why any normal man would get jealous, seeing as they really had been spending a lot of time together, but seeing Kakashi act like a normal man was a little unnerving. Still, it was a misunderstanding.

Kakashi smiled, giving him an eye crinkle, and Lina rolled her eyes. "Boys."

"What? This is how we men fix our problems." Kakashi defended, and Lina raised an eyebrow at him.

"Right. You grunt your way through life." She stuck her tongue out at him, daring him to do what he would normally do; take her tongue into his mouth and kiss her senseless. But they were in public(well, relatively public), and if he didn't want to show his face to anyone, he'd keep his mouth to himself. She grinned as she watched him fix her with a hard stare that said only one thing. _'When we get home we're going to have some rough sex.'_

Raidou watched his two friends tease each other and he smiled. It was good to see Kakashi so open, so much so that he almost forgot how he used to be. Oh, he was still aloof and all that to everyone else, but when he was with Lina, everyone noticed a subtle warmth radiating between the two. Lina was good for him. And he was definitely good for her. She was becoming closer to the girl he'd first met all those months ago, Hana. She was confident, constantly smiling, and a light shone in her eyes every time she and Kakashi were together. He was happy for them.

XXX

Several weeks after the 'Birthday fiasco', Lina found herself realizing that the jounin exams were quickly approaching.

"Oh my Kages. Kashi, did you know that the exams are in 3 weeks?" Lina turned to Kakashi in his bed, taking a pause from eating the breakfast she'd made for them. Kakashi put down his fork, pausing from picking scrambled eggs off of her plate, and looked up at her.

"You just realized that?"

"It just hit me. Three weeks...that's crazy!" Sure, she'd perfected her self-created Chidori, and she'd trained hard, but she still didn't feel...ready.

"That's just until the mental portion of the exams. After that, you've got the physical part. The actual fights."

"Right...wow. The exams really crept on me, huh?" Lina laid her head down on the pillows propped up behind her back. Kakashi's hand that was attached to the arm around her shoulders softly traced down her upper arm.

"You're ready. You'll be great." Lina turned to look at him and smiled. "Thanks." Kakashi smiled back and bent down to peck her on the lips, his hands expertly moving the plates away and onto the beside table. Lina giggled and spoke into the kiss, "Mmm, I should make breakfast more often."

"I agree." Kakashi murmured back, grinning as he continued to kiss her chastely. He pushed her onto the bed and felt her roll off of her side onto her back before he began to kiss her cheek, sucking on her pulse as he moved onto her neck. He heard her laugh as he tickled her somehow, and he smiled into her skin. His hair always found some new way of tickling her, as they both found out relatively early. Laughing, Lina twisted away as Kakashi's hair touched a sensitive spot just under her ear, but she found herself on her back as she twisted a little too much.

Kakashi reached down and trailed his hand down her spine as he whispered into her neck, "So you want it like that, do you?"

Lina giggled but shook her head, trying to get away. "Kashi, no. We can't."

"Why not?" Kakashi licked her neck teasingly, and she lost her motivation for a second.

"A-ah, because...because it's my time of the month." Lina spoke softly, blushing lightly. They'd never actually done it around her time of the month, although several times they'd cut it pretty close, but Kakashi still didn't know when it was. Well, she figured that he must have realized the pattern, but judging by his lack of movement and surprised aura, he hadn't.

"What? No it's not." Kakashi raised himself to watch Lina turn and give him a raised eyebrow.

"Uhh, yes it is. I thought you were supposed to have a dog's level in smelling abilities."

"But I don't smell anything." He could normally tell when a girl's time was just based off of her pheromones in the weeks leading up to it(which he was especially prone to) and her period itself. But he couldn't smell anything from Lina except her normal scent that admittedly intoxicated him already, since it immediately reminded him of their nights together. No smell of blood either.

It was now Lina's turn to raise an eyebrow. "You can't smell the blood?" Kakashi shook his head, and Lina smiled. "Wow, I can't believe it actually worked."

"What worked?"

"I was trying to cover up the smell as much as possible since your nose is so sensitive. Mine is too, but to a much lesser degree than yours of course." Kakashi blinked at her before he bent down to kiss her deeply.

"Well, you did a good job. But I think I'd like to check just in case." Kakashi smirked as Lina laughed into him again, smacking his back lightly.

"In case what, exactly? In case I'm lying because I don't want to have sex with you? Jeez, Ka-kun. I'm not letting you 'check' anything. Now get off me." She giggled at the thought of Kakashi 'checking' her. He brought her inner wrist to his lips, kissing it softly and watching her moan and wiggle as he hit a sensitive nerve, but she shook her head. "Kashi, no. In this one case, I really mean it. Off, now." She made her voice more serious, and Kakashi grudgingly let her go, rolling off of her and throwing his arm over his eyes.

"Ugh, so how long do I need to suffer this torture?" Kakashi groaned, and Lina grinned, rolling towards him.

"Torture?"

"No sex. You know that's torture for me." Their last big argument, deemed the 'Birthday Fiasco', had led them to no sex for nearly a week, and Lina had even stopped him from touching her as punishment for overreacting so deeply. That time, being near her but not being able to so much as hold her hand or kiss her cheek had hurt him too. Now, knowing that he wouldn't be able to have sex with her again until she was done bleeding, he groaned at the thought of enduring that again. At least this time, he wasn't in the doghouse. He could hold her, and touch her, and kiss her. That was something.

Lina giggled at the thought of him feeling tortured when he couldn't do it with her. She reached sideways to him and softly stroked his chest as she teasingly said, "Aw, poor baby." Kakashi's eye twinkled as he grinned at her and nodded. "I am, aren't I?" They laughed, laying on his bed, their arms loosely around each other. Just then, Kakashi remembered something.

"Hang on…if you're on your period...is THAT why you're always so sensitive around this time?" Kakashi had suspected that her time of the month was around this time, but he'd never had proof since there was always some reason for them not to have sex for a week or so.

Lina looked up at him and looked away, blushing. It was embarrassing to say, but yes, she was always much more sensitive in the week leading up to her period. Kakashi watched her blush and he reached over to kiss her.

"Mm, you smell good. I don't know if it's knowing that you're not going to let me do anything that makes me want you more, or if it's you blushing like a little girl that makes me want to tease you like crazy."

Lina's face lit up as she heard him speak, and she rolled her eyes at him. "Oh Kashi-kun, ever the pervert." She loved hearing him talk like that. He smirked down at her and kissed her again. "Mhm. You know it."

XXX

Three weeks later marked the beginning of the mental portion of the exam. The day before, Lina received a scroll delivered silently by an ANBU shinobi. Opening it, it read:

_'To Candidate,_

_Your mental examination with take place on __**October 11 **__at:__** 9:00 am in the Jounin Headquarters**__. Do not bring anything. __**Do not be late.**__ All late candidates will be unable to proceed onto the physical examinations.'_

The next day, she quickly made her way to the jounin headquarters, a building she'd only really passed by until now, maybe venturing in a few times. Walking into the jounin missions room (which was different from the one in the missions office), she saw several familiar faces, Aoba and Ino's father (Inoichi?) being the two more prominent ones. Smiling at them, she was about to talk to them when she saw what they were wearing. Rather than wearing their usual clothing, they, along with several other jounin, were dressed in plain black uniforms with the word EXAMINER written on their backs. Realizing, she was about to say something when a throat cleared and silenced the room entirely.

"Line up, brats." Ibiki's harsh voice spoke quietly while emanating authority, and all of the chuunin immediately stood in a straight line. "Listen up. This is what's going to happen. You will be taken to separate rooms individually. You will be put through mental stress exams multiple times, changing room and examiners with each time. The more times you take the exams, the harder they will be, and the closer you will be to passing. Your last examiner will be me. If I pass you, you'll be put through to take the physical exams. Any questions?"

One chuunin, a rather muscular boy that Lina remembered was named Asai raised his hand. "How long is this going to take?" He spoke arrogantly, as if he were already sure he was going to be a jounin. Ibiki paused for a moment, looking him up and down before he strode up to the boy and asked, "Why, do you have a date, pretty boy?" The rest of the examiners tittered as the chuunin stilled, face red. He quickly shook his head, stuttering "N-no. I-I-I…"

Ibiki ignored him, walking back to his original spot, and took out a scroll. "First person, Asaba Souchiro. Room 1. Next, Sena Hideaki, Room 2…" He went on, and Lina slowly relaxed as her name wasn't called.

Eventually, her name was called, and she proceeded to go into a room. She'd been in the waiting area long enough to see several chuunin come out traumatized, some after only two sessions! She knew what they would probe her with, especially since her becoming a leader was so publicized in the Konoha shinobi community. She had no doubt that the examiners were all familiar with her family's losses, and Ibiki was definitely familiar with her more hidden secrets.

Walking into the first room, Lina found herself placed under a genjutsu where she was to watch herself give a bad order to her team that resulted in a massacre. The team was made up of children, genin, and she saw herself as the sensei leading them. It was their first mission away from the village, they were thrown into a battle unsuspectingly, and Lina's bad order caused each child to die in front of her eyes, begging for her to do something as she was held down by enemies. The genjutsu was harsh, cruel, and so raw against her nerves, but Lina persevered. Crying tears for the imaginary children, Lina did not break when she was later 'interrogated' by the enemies in the genjutsu, in a separate room, with different examiners.

In another room, she found herself being tortured, whipped, struck by enemies as they too tried to gather information about Konoha. It was nothing compared to the faceless jounin who had hurt her on that horrible mission with Souta, so Lina remained calm, her mind focusing on reality. She was in an exam. She was in a genjutsu. She was not hurt in the least. Mind over matter. When she finally came out of the room, she was breathing hard, the imaginary wounds still stinging against her flesh. She hobbled onto the next one, cursing the examiners for not giving any of the candidates any time to rest.

In yet another room, Lina found herself slowly recognizing the people around her. Her parents' and grandmother's deaths. As she began to relive parts of it, Lina knew that she was nearing the end of her examination. This was where it got really horrible. She watched her family die in front of her, Katsumi and Kei joining the fire with her parents, and she felt an overwhelming sense of hopelessness. She was alone. She had no one. As she cried, she heard a voice in her head, the examiner's voice, who spoke calmly to her. "Tell us what we want to know. Where is the Amaterasu-sealing scroll hidden?"

"I don't know." Lina spoke harshly, crying out when she felt burning all over her body. She looked down and saw the Amaterasu flames dancing on her, burning her skin. Terror went through her as all five of her senses were assaulted. She could even taste the smell of burning flesh in the back of her mouth as she breathed in. Screaming, Lina heard the voice again.

"Tell us where it is. The pain will stop." The voice sounded as if the wielder was smiling, and Lina's resolve grew.

"I. Don't. Know." She gritted her teeth and lied, crying out as the pain grew. She could see her skin peeling away, her muscles slowly exposed, and she knew that there was no way she was actually feeling the pain she would be feeling if this were are real. By now, in reality, she'd have long fainted and slowly died, yet she was still awake and struggling. Knowing this just kept her strong.

"Are you sure?"

"Oh, fuck yes." She growled, and the genjutsu was immediately lifted. Before her stood Aoba, his hand still on her head as he finished extracting himself from her head. Looking up at him, she panted and shook. _ 'Well? How'd I do?' _Aoba looked down at the girl in front of him and he gave her a small smile. She'd done great. Passed with flying colors. It was now time to meet the last examiner, also, the hardest one to crack. Morino Ibiki.

Lina shakily tried to get up out of her seat that she'd sat in the moment she'd entered the room to take the exam, but Aoba shook his head.

"You won't be moving to another room. You will take your final exam here." Ibiki stepped out of the shadows, his long trench coat flowing as he walked. Lina stared up at him, sweating slightly, and she took several deep breaths. From the corner of her eye, she could see Inoichi coming back into the room, his blue-green eyes wide as if he were surprised that she'd lasted so long.

Ibiki surveyed the girl sitting in front of him, and he smirked inwardly. She was a tough little cookie, good. He'd seen some of that strength in their earlier therapy sessions together, but seeing her hold strong through a simulated interrogation, it was refreshing. There were only so few shinobi who were capable of handling the mental strain placed on them during the exam, and only a small handful of them were women. It was nice to know there were still some strong ones out there just waiting to be discovered.

He said sternly, "This is your final mental exam. I will have Inoichi probe your mind, further than Aoba did. After we have the information we need, Aoba will place you under a genjutsu while Inoichi stays inside your mind to guide you, and the test will begin. While under the genjutsu, you will also feel pain and emotions, as you did before. These are not real. This final exam is designed to test your limits. We will push you to the end, but no further. Understood?"

Lina nodded and steadied herself. This was going to be the big one. She had no doubt that they would bring up her team mates, Souta, everyone. Inoichi laid a hand softly on the girl's shoulder and said reassuringly, "Don't worry. We won't be too hard on you. Ibiki knows exactly how far to push a person." Lina turned her head to give him a small smile before she nodded and straightened herself again. She wanted to say that it was a small comfort to know that, considering she'd heard the rumors about the torture expert, but at the same time it was. Knowing that he knew exactly how much she could take made her have faith that he wouldn't push her too hard. Inoichi looked over at Ibiki, both of them exchanging a look, and Lina felt a now-familiar pressure on her brain as Inoichi began to probe her. After he was done, Aoba began weaving the genjutsu, and the final test began.

She found herself in blackness, nothing around her. She couldn't see, hear, or smell anything. She couldn't even see her own hands and feet. Then suddenly, she saw a tiny white spot in front of her, as if it were nearly a mile away. Slowly, she tried walking to it, and found that she could. She walked closer and closer, the white spot getting nearer until she saw that it was white light, as if it were the end of a dark tunnel. Stepping into the bright light, she looked around. For a few moments, there was nothing. Then…

"Lina-chan." She whipped her head around to see who was calling her, immediately recognizing the voice. A 17 year old brunette stared at her, round blue eyes shone beneath a straight fringe.

"Hanaki-chan." Lina walked over to her and they hugged, Lina's heart clenching as she struggled to remember that this wasn't reality. After a few seconds, Lina felt something wet sliding down her front. She pulled away and saw Hanaki the way she'd seen her last, broken, bleeding, tattered, near death.

"L-Lina-cha-an…" Hanaki whispered brokenly, and Lina's eyes widened as she remembered.

"Li-ina...chan…" Another voice spoke and Lina turned to see Aoi limping towards her, short purple hair matted down by blood, her right eye slashed with a line that went through her nose as well, blood coming out of her torso too.

"Aoi-chan...no…" Lina's eyes began to blur as tears formed yet again, and she sank to the ground, watching Aoi take her place beside Hanaki, both of them collapsing on the ground the way they had on that dreadful day. But instead of dying, they stared up at her and chanted, "You killed us…you let us die…"

"No...no…" Lina began to moan, tears flowing rapidly. She felt another presence behind her, and she turned her head, screaming in shock. There stood Souta, tortured beyond recognition the way he'd been carried home, but he was alive.

"Lina…why did you let them take me?" Souta whispered, and Lina's head spun. She watched him walk to meet her team mates, all of them staring at her with emptiness in their eyes that still somehow looked at her accusingly.

"Why, Lina-chan? Why did you kill us?" They asked, their voices melding into one. Lina began to shake. This was her worst nightmare. The one she dreamed of for so many nights. The one that Kakashi had soothed her- _'Kashi. That's it.'_

"It wasn't my fault. You all know that." Lina slowly stopped her crying, concentrating on the words Kakashi said to her over and over, the words that she'd now memorized, and were ingrained in her head. "Those missions weren't my fault. Your deaths weren't my fault. I warned all of you not to henge into me. Aki-chan, Aoi-chan, we were new chuunin when you two died, and you were killed by jounin. You know that I wasn't at fault. I couldn't do anything, I had to protect the scroll. Sou-kun, we were ambushed, and you were taken in my placed. For that…" Lina struggled with her words, faltering.

"For that, I am sorry. I should have pushed you to not henge into me. I'm sorry I didn't push harder. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry that you were hurt. I never meant to hurt you. I'm sorry. I loved you, Sou. We should never have been assigned that mission together. In the end, we were far too outnumbered and outranked, you know that. I'm sorry that it wasn't me. If I could change anything, I would. I'm sorry." Lina's voice grew stronger as she continued to speak, her hands reaching out to touch each one of her loved ones. Feeling their skin under her fingers, as if they were really there, she began to cry again, but held strong. This was an exam, one that she would _not_ fail. She was stable again. After months of Kakashi slowly healing her, even if she wasn't completely healed, she could fake it long enough to pass this exam. She just had to wait.

Her heart stung as she watched them staring at her blankly, their eyes drilling holes into her as they silently judged her. Swallowing hard, Lina lifted her head, and said. "Enough. If you were real, you would not blame me, that much I know."

"Oh? You're that sure of yourself, eh?" Ibiki's voice rang through her head and Lina stiffened. His voice somehow had a way of ruining her at the drop of a hat, but this time, she used it to remind herself that this wasn't real. Lips trembling she swallowed again and nodded. "I am. We're done here."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" She heard an amused chuckle before the scene changed.

She was in a dark room, similar to the one she was in for her exam. She was tied up on a wall, chakra blockers on her arms and legs, a collar on her neck to hold her even more still. She felt hands all over her, jabbing her with needles, torturing her with liquids that seared in her veins, and she screamed.

"Tell us where to find the Hokage." In this genjutsu, Lina was fed information through what had to be Inoichi's connection to her. They were at war with Kiri again. Everyone had been killed, except her. Tsunade was in hiding, and she knew where she was. Her torturers sent out a spark of electricity through her and she screamed again, twisting and turning in her restraints as they laughed all around her. She couldn't see them, but she knew there were at least 5 surrounding her. All of the sudden, she felt a lone finger on her forehead, and she felt herself get manipulated into another genjutsu (within the genjutsu).

They were in a large battlefield. There were fires, bomb blasts, screams echoing in her head. Vaguely she felt as if she were in a war, and she realized in the genjutsu that she was reliving a part of her past. In this genjutsu, she'd already lived through this war. Her interrogators were just torturing her with old scenes. All around her, she saw bodies, all bloody and tattered. Looking down at herself, she saw blood all over her, her hair caked down by the dirt and blood mixture. She stumbled towards the nearest body, intent on helping whoever it was, only to scream in shock when she recognized the body. Kiba, with Akamaru laying not far away, both of them just barely breathing.

"Kiba! Oh God, Kiba, hang on!" Lina reached into her pack and tried to help him, but no sooner had she started treatment, he was dead, Akamaru letting out a low whine before he too died. Blinking back tears, Lina got up to try and find others, spotting them not too far ahead. But as soon as she got to them, she realized that it was too late for them too. All of them…dead. Tenten, Hinata, Katsumi, Kei, everyone, gone. She began to run, desperately hoping the few milliseconds she gained with speed would help her comrades, but it was the same story each time. Raidou, Genma, Shizune, Aoba, Izumo, Kotetsu, Shino, all dead. Gai laid broken, his legs at odd angles as he panted harshly before he finally died, and Lina began to lose herself in the genjutsu within a genjutsu.

Sobbing, she saw one last figure. Of course, in the back of her head, she knew who it would be, but that didn't lessen the shock any.

"Kashi...no...no, _please_…" Lina cried, her hands fumbling on his chest as he stared up at her bleakly. Bending her head down, she heard him whisper something incoherent before he finally died, and Lina lost herself. Sobbing, she wailed as she threw her head on his chest, clutching onto it as she felt his warmth begin to fade a little too quickly for this to be reality.

"Tell us where Tsunade-_hime_ is." Lina heard her 'interrogators' speak from within her mind, his voice grotesquely destroying the title of her Hokage, and she lifted herself up from the now half-cold corpse that was Hatake Kakashi.

"Fuck you." She tried to break the genjutsu, but she had no way of do it when she was bound and her chakra was restrained in the reality of the exam's genjutsu. She heard them laugh, and the battlefield swam out of her vision, bringing her back to the dark room. All at once, she felt all the pain in the world flare up on her body, as if she were on fire while being stabbed. As she screamed, she faintly felt her restrains loosen, and she fell to the ground. She tried to struggle, but she was far too weak from the pain. She found herself laid on a table, her hands and feet restrained by sets of hands as other roamed her body, removing her clothing and touching her in ways that made her skin crawl. She tried to scream, only to be muffled when they shoved cloth into her mouth. In a matter of seconds, her clothes were gone, and she was raped. Pounded through both her vagina and her ass, Lina screamed as she felt pain sear through her insides again, tears no longer forming from overexertion. After what felt like dozens of pairs switching (but she knew it was all sped up for the purpose of the exam), Lina finally felt empty, and she was asked again.

"Tell us, bitch, or we'll use your cunt until its so loose you'll be begging for our fists." The original torturer's voice spoke into her ear, as if he were right beside her. She couldn't see anything. The room was pitch black. Not even her own body was visible to her. But she smelled them. Their vile odors that made her want to vomit. But no, she wouldn't do that. Vomiting on herself would do her no good. Save it for when she was free.

"And your ass'll be so full you won't be able to eat anything for days." Another voice rang out from beneath her and Lina steadied herself, her tongue pushing the cloth out of her mouth.

"You'd better kill me when you're done with me, because the moment you let me go, I'm coming after all of you bastards." She snarled, hating herself for not being able to put more punch into her words. She heard them laugh and she closed her eyes as another round of disgusting, useless meat was shoved into her.

She felt the genjutsu shift. She was still in the same room and she was still being fucked by countless men, but she knew that she had been here for several days. Nearly at her wits end, she began to execute her plan. Carefully timing herself so that it wasn't exact, but not too quick, Lina forced herself to begin to submit. Slowly, she began to stop her skin from crawling at their touch. Her screams turned into moans, her inner walls began to clamp down on their pathetic excuses for manhoods.

"Would you look at that? She's finally cracking." A voice above her head, probably the person holding her hands up, said the words she was waiting for.

"About fucking time." Another voice rang out before the bastard groaned and released on her chest. Lina forced herself not to flinch or growl, instead faking an orgasm as another one released into her.

"Look, look, she's finally starting to enjoy herself!" A high pitched voice giggled and Lina bit back a retort. Who the fuck would enjoy themselves when they were getting raped by that skinny thing?

After a few more men, Lina let out a loud moan and a plead, "Ohhh, please. Moooore…" She heard the men laugh, their hands finally loosening around her legs, and she wrapped her legs around the fucker's back, as if she was urging him on. She tried to lift herself up, and found herself actually able to. The morons were loosening their grip on her hands too, and she was slowly regaining her energy as she concentrated on her plan. A few more thrusts and she forced out another fake orgasm, throwing her head back and arching her back up as she raised her hips to meet the bastard pounding into her. And then she heard it.

"Flip her over." The original interrogator said, and she was immediately unsheathed from both her front and her back and flipped onto her hands and knees. Her hands met muscle and she felt herself pushed down again, pierced twice yet again. She threw her head back and faked a moan, her hands clenching not from want but from disgust. As she moaned, she felt it. There was a man standing in front of her, and he wanted to be sucked. She took it in, giving it a few quick licks so that they would relax their hold on her head.

"The bitch's so into it that she's giving me a blowjob. Fuck, her mouth is so tiny." Lina waited for her moment. As soon as she felt everyone relax, she bit down.

"ARGH!" She listened in satisfaction as the man who's length she'd just chewed on screamed. She bit harder, and his hands dropped their hold on her own. Taking the opportunity, Lina spit out the disgusting thing and elbowed the man still humping her from behind. At the same time, she kicked him away, balancing herself on her knee that, oops, also happened to be pressed right on top of the man's lower abdomen who was beneath her as she raised herself off his disgusting body. Hearing the screams was music to her ears, and she heightened her hearing to gauge how many people she had to take down. No time to stop and think, Lina whipped her head down as she felt an oncoming punch. How the heck were her attackers able to see? _'Fuck it.'_

She fumbled along her wrists, dodging the punches and blows as she felt them appear, and she finally unclasped the chakra holders. A surge of chakra came through her, and she flew through familiar seals. Closing her eyes, she opened her mouth and shrieked, her fingers intertwined and perpendicularly crossing each other. A wave of chakra went through her, and she felt a sudden rumble as all the enemies around her collapsed from what she knew was bleeding eardrums. In a second, it was over. She felt her sight begin to come back, and she realized that she'd been placed under a blinding jutsu that died with its user. Looking around, she saw 10 bodies, all men, all with blood coming out of their ears, except one, which she saw also had a piece of his _thing_ hanging from the rest of it. Looking at herself, she saw that her body was ruined, so dirty and disgusting that she really did want to puke. But there would be time for that later.

She noticed a door, and she slowly walked to it, not caring about being naked. Opening it, she was hit by a bright light. Blinking it away, Lina found herself out of the genjutsu, sitting in the room of her jounin mental exam, with Inoichi, Ibiki, and Aoba staring at her with amazement, Aoba looking slightly green and Inoichi's face very pale while Ibiki stared down at her with mild approval on his face. Lina looked down at herself, relieved to see that she was not actually hurt, despite the residual pain she felt. Everywhere. She looked up as she felt Ibiki move closer to her. She saw him carrying a needle and she immediately stilled, her senses on high alert.

"Relax. It's for the pain." Ibiki said, watching the little girl stare at him accusingly. He was definitely surprised at how much she was able to handle. He'd pushed her so far past the border of right and wrong that Inoichi, the man who rarely spoke, had asked if they were going too far. But she'd succeeded in surpassing all expectations.

Lina watched warily as Ibiki stabbed her arm with the needle, and in a few seconds she felt herself not feeling any more pain. Sighing, she slumped forwards, her face in her hands. "So? Do I pass?"

Ibiki grinned down at her, something Inoichi had only ever seen him do a handful to times, and he too smiled, not that she could see any of this. "You pass." Of course she passed. She'd just gone through some ANBU-level mental stress, and lived to see the end of it. She was definitely one tough cookie.

Lina nodded, hearing Ibiki speak. "Good. Then am I done here?" She heard him chuckle and she let out a low growl. Saying that he was a sadist was an understatement.

"Yeah, you're done."

Lina stood up, hearing those words. Glaring up at him, she spat out, "Good. You're one sick bastard." She stormed out of the room, not looking at either Inoichi or Aoba. She heard Ibiki bark out a laugh as he said behind her, "Your physical exams are in a week. All candidates get a half hour session with Tsunade immediately after their mental exams. Yours starts in 5 minutes. Come back by 5 pm today. I have an announcement to make to all successful candidates." Lina strode out of the room, riding on adrenaline as much as she could before she collapsed on the ground of the main waiting area. Faintly, she saw that there were still several shinobi who had not gone into rooms just yet, and others who were shaking as they sat in folded chairs, their eyes wide. _'Looks like I'm not the only one. Good. I wouldn't want to feel weak.'_

Lina felt a pair of hands straighten her from her slump on the floor, and she looked up to see Aoba staring down at her, concerned. "Lina, are you alright?" She smiled weakly and nodded. "Yeah, just saying hi to the floor." She let out a small giggle, her legs too weak to hold her weight for the moment, and she felt Aoba lift her up to place her on the chair.

"Here, sit here for a bit." Aoba tried to keep her still, but Lina shook her head. "I can't, I have a session with Tsunade-sama. I'm going to be late." She tried to stand up, but failed miserably. Aoba shook his head at her and said, "You don't need to worry about that. There's someone over here that, by the looks of it, has been worried sick about you." He watched Lina's face light up as she turned and saw Kakashi standing beside her.

Kakashi saw Lina collapsed, and he practically ran towards her. Looking down at her, he could see that she was shaking. Had the jounin exams been that difficult back in his day? He remembered being put under strain, but definitely not this much. He shot Aoba a look, who shot him another one, but he couldn't tell what it was supposed to convey. Aoba opened his mouth and said, "She was given the OTHER exam." Finally, he understood. That's why she took so long in that last exam.

"Other exam? What other exam?" Lina looked between the two men, confused. Hadn't she been given the jounin mental exam?

"The ANBU mental test. Ibiki…" Aoba paused as he heard Kakashi let out a growl. "Ibiki gave you a harder exam to test your abilities. Since you passed, it means that you have the same mental qualifications as an ANBU candidate would need to get admitted into their ranks."

"…What the fuck…?" Lina whispered. She didn't know whether she should feel proud or furious. So she felt both. It was an honor, to be sure, but what the hell?! She tried to stand up, but was still too weak. Turning to Kakashi, she said, "Kashi, I need to get to my session with Tsunade." Kakashi nodded down at her, his eyes still dark with anger at her having to endure this without her knowledge or consent. He picked her up swiftly and body flickered away.

XXX

"Well, it looks like you have no lasting injuries. You get a week to rest up, and that should be enough to heal you." Tsunade said, watching Lina sit up carefully. Leaning in, she said conspiratorially, "So, I heard you got the ANBU test."

"Hokage-sama, you didn't know?" Lina was stunned that Ibiki had the balls to do that without consulting her first. Tsunade shrugged. "I trust his judgement. And he wasn't wrong about you. You've got some real strength in you." Lina's eyes widened at the compliment and she blushed. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade nodded in appreciation. Looking up at Kakashi, she said, "You can take her home now, but don't forget to go to that meeting with Ibiki. She's going to need lots of bed rest, and it's normal to get sick after your mind's processed everything. So no sex, you two." She watched in satisfaction as the couple blushed deeply; although she could only see the upper part of Kakashi's cheekbones, it was bright red.

"T-T-Tsunade-sama!" Lina stuttered, mortified. She felt Tsunade laugh, an arm on her shoulder, and the older woman shook her head. "Ahh, to be young and in love."

Lina took in a sharp breath. In love? They weren't- "Tsunade-sama, we're not-" She never got to finish her sentence as Tsunade left the room still laughing. Blushing, she couldn't even look at Kakashi, so she stared into her lap. After a few moments (that felt like hours to her), she felt Kakashi walk over and place a hand under her chin. He bent down to kiss her, his mask hanging low on his neck, and he murmured, "Ignore her." Lina's blush increased slightly (if that was possible), but she nodded and kissed him back.

Kakashi wrapped his arms around her, pulling her up into his body before he teleported them back to his apartment, collapsing on the bed on top of her, his hands already wandering. They couldn't have sex, but that didn't mean they couldn't have some light fun.

XXX

Several days later, Lina was still on bed rest, although now she'd migrated back over to her own apartment, letting her siblings be the ones to care for her. Not that there was much to do. Aside from eating and going to the bathroom, Lina pretty much stayed in bed, reading Icha Icha, or watched a movie on the TV set. Bliss. In the evenings, Kakashi stopped by, making sure she was resting.

"Honestly, Kakashi, I'm fine. You worry too much." Lina grumbled as she half-smiled. Kakashi smirked down at her, not saying anything. They were in her bed, her legs lying over his thighs as she curled into his chest. He tightened his arm around her and said, "As if you don't love it."

Lina giggled and nodded. "True." Kakashi smiled and said, shifting slightly, "Besides, you're chakra's still a mess. What did Ibiki do?" He watched in dismay as Lina shook her head yet again. "I don't want to talk about it. It was...stressful."

"Lina-"

"Kashi, don't." She placed a hand on his chest and said, "Thank you." Kakashi looked down at her, surprised.

"For what?"

"For...for being here. For telling me that I'm worth something. When I was in that exam, I felt…" Lina shuddered, remembering, but continued. "I felt hopeless, useless, everything I used to feel, and still feel sometimes. But then, I remembered what you tell me. I'm worth something. I'm not nothing. And it helped me get through it."

Kakashi watched her speak, and he pulled her so that she was straddling him. He remembered how they hadn't even been able to make out because Lina was shaking so badly after her mind got around to actually processing what had happened, and she was sick several times before her meeting with Ibiki later that day. Now, he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her, long and slow. He pulled away and softly but firmly said, "You _are_ worth something. You are...incredible, I always knew that, but to pass an ANBU level mental stress exam, that is extraordinary for a chuunin. Then again, you're no ordinary chuunin." True, chuunin were capable of joining the ANBU ranks, but it was extremely rare. To be able to pass the mental stress was one of the main reasons for admitting a chuunin into that elite crowd. Physical training could come later. Mental, not so much.

Lina smiled and gave him an Eskimo kiss before she pecked him sweetly on the lips. His confidence in her was what kept her going, she knew that. And she had the perfect idea of how to thank him. She wasn't sure if it would work, but she had to try. But she'd need Sakura (and probably Shizune and Tsunade) to help her.

Kakashi looked at her, noticing that her thoughts were elsewhere, and he let out a questioning sound. "Mm?"

Lina snapped back to reality and out of her mind, halting the plans for his 'gift'. "What?"

"You tell me. What were you thinking about?"

Lina shook her head, quirking up a smile. "Nothing." Kakashi snorted, raising an eyebrow, and Lina raised one in return, challenging him. She'd passed the ANBU level mental stress exam. Did he really think he could get information out of her that easily? Kakashi shook his head, pursing his lips. Damn, Ibiki had just raised her self esteem by making her take that test. Not that that was a bad thing, but now he'd have to work so much harder.

Lina's mind went into a flashback of Ibiki's little 'speech' to all the successful candidates who would take the physical exam.

_xxx_

_They were seated in the large waiting area. As Lina looked around, she could see that there were only 5 other applicants who had passed. Out of over 20, only 5 had made it to the physical. Who knew how many would make it to jounin status? _

_'No wonder there are so few jounin in Konoha.' Lina thought to herself. She wondered if anyone else had taken the ANBU exam like she had._

_"You six are the ones who passed the mental exam. You have all completed your half hour session with Tsunade, and have all been ordered to be on bed rest. You will have one week of resting time before you physical exams. The jounin exams are different from the chuunin ones. You won't be fighting each other. You'll be fighting other jounin from the village. I will put up a list of names of the people who will be battling all of you. You will notice certain people grouped together. They will be battling you alone. No partners. The objective here, is to win or draw within an hour-long battle. If you lose, you will be penalized, and unable to move onto the next person you will battle. Meet in the Konoha Stadium on October 18 at 10am sharp." _

_"How is that going to work?" A boy raised his hand questioningly. Ibiki turned his attention to him. "If we're all going to have an hour-long battle, and we're fighting multiple people, how are we going to finish it all in one day?" Ibiki grinned crudely at him. "Who said that you're all going to pass?" The chuunin stilled, and everyone shut up. That was very true._

_xxx_

Lina sighed. "I have to fight other jounin, huh?" Kakashi looked at her, not saying anything. She looked at him and asked resignedly, "I'll have to fight you, won't I?" He still remained silent, but the look he gave her told her everything she needed to know. Nodding, she closed her eyes and leaned her head down so that it was resting on his shoulder, her hands and arms resting on his chest as she continued to straddle him. She felt Kakashi's arms come around her hesitantly, and she smiled.

"Well, at least that's one battle I know I'll win." Kakashi's eye widened and he let a slow grin form on his lips. "Oh, confident, are we?" He felt her nod into him, her voice muffled into his chest. "Of course. With all our training, you don't think I've been letting the opportunity to watch you work slip away, do you?" Lina giggled, and Kakashi chuckled, bringing her back down to the bed.

"Good. But I'm warning you, it's not going to be an easy fight."

Lina smirked. "I wouldn't have it any other way." She pulled him into a kiss, both of them smirking stupidly at each other.

XXX

"How was she?"

"She was given the ANBU mental exam, Danzo-sama."

"...Oh?"

"Yes, sir. She passed. As she left the room, Yamanaka Inoichi and Yamashiro Aoba commented on her mental strength to partake in that test."

"Good. The device is still active?"

"Yes sir."

"Bring me Dajimu."

"Yes sir." The masked ANBU ROOT shinobi vanished, another one appearing several minutes later.

"Dajimu."

"Yes sir."

"Go find Sasaki Katsumi again. Charm your way into her sister's apartment. When you find an opening, place this device into Sasaki Lina's bedroom." Danzo held out yet another wireless microphone in his hand, and Dajimu took it silently.

"Yes, Danzo-sama." He vanished without a trace. Danzo walked out of the communion hall in the basement of the ANBU ROOT base. Yamanaka Fuu and Aburame Torune stayed within the shadows for several minutes until they could not hear his cane any longer before they took a few steps into the stream of light that highlighted several metres in the middle of the communion hall.

_'What's he planning?' 'What is he going to do to that family?' 'Why are they so important?'_ These questions were beginning to run through the two shinobis' heads, but they remained silent. In ANBU ROOT, even the walls had ears.

XXX

"Ahhh! That feels soooo _good_!" Lina moaned as she sank into the onsen, the girls around her giggling.

"You sound like an old lady, Lina-nee." Tenten laughed as Lina splashed her.

"Hey! You try training like crazy, with Gai and Lee too, then taking that insane mental exam, and see how _you_ feel after!" Lina complained half-heartedly, and Tenten nodded her head, chortling.

"I do train with them! I know they're tough, but I'm sure they helped you, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm still going to complain about it." Lina retorted, and they all relaxed.

"Wow, Lina, your boobs look big on your body. I mean, I know you're not big, but wow, you look bigger than Forehead. I'll bet Kakashi-sensei loves playing with those." Ino said crudely, and Lina slapped a hand over her own face, the other one wrapping around her chest.

"Ino-pig, you pervert!" Sakura splashed her best friend, blushing, and Lina shot her a thankful look.

"Oh come on, Forehead, it's true! Gosh, I still can't believe you guys are together. What's he like?" Ino asked conspiratorially, and the other girls stilled. It was a good thing that there were no other female patrons, but Lina had a feeling that a few men on the other side were eavesdropping on their rather loudly broadcasted conversation.

Lina smiled as she thought about Kakashi. "He's…unbelievable." Ino let out a squeal, Tenten following her, while Hinata blushed and Sakura groaned, saying "Ew!" Lina giggled, loving that her boyfriend's ex-student found it 'gross' that he was just that good. Her mind drifted off as she thought of him, losing track of what was happening in front of her.

"Oh my God." Ino said softly. Lina snapped back to reality.

"What?"

"You love him."

"What?" Lina's heart dropped as she heard the words, although she didn't have time to comprehend why. Ino nodded furiously. "Oh my God, I'm right! You do!"

"What? No I don't!" Lina shook her head furiously, a blush forming. She'd been thinking about her feelings for a while, and after Tsunade's comments just days ago, she was starting to think maybe…

"Oh my Gods, nee-chan, is this true?" Tenten squealed, wading over to take Lina's hand. She watched her sister blush, and she grinned. "Waaah!" Lina began to giggle, slowly turning it into a full blown laugh as the girls all began 'Awww!' ing at her.

"Ne, ne, so does he know?" Lina's expression immediately melted away and she shook her head vehemently. "No, Gods no!"

"Why not?" Sakura asked, curiously. She was happy that Lina was happy, although she STILL couldn't figure out what she and nearly all the women in Konoha found so attractive about her lazy, tardy, enigma of a sensei.

Lina looked away from the girls and thought for a moment before she spoke. "Because...he's so amazing. Of course I'd fall in love with him. But if I tell him...I don't know. It means that…"

"It means that things have to change." Hinata said quietly, and Lina turned to look at the girl, smiling sadly as she nodded. The bluenette knew exactly how Lina felt. How could she not, after years of pining after Naruto?

"So what if things change? Change can be a good thing, you know." Ino said, and Tenten nodded in agreement. Lina shrugged. "I don't mind things the way they are."

"Wait...so you're not going to tell him?" Sakura asked, and Lina shook her head. "No. Right now, I'm fine with being casual." She raised an eyebrow as Sakura snorted.

"Sorry, but you guys are not casual at all. When it comes to casual relationships, Pig is the queen."

Ino nodded, and Lina smiled. Remembering her plan, she turned to Sakura. "Sakura, I have something I'd like you to help me with. Could you come by my apartment sometime soon? It's sort of private." Sakura looked at the older woman and nodded. "Sure. I'll drop by tomorrow." Lina nodded.

On the men's side of the onsen, Kakashi sat listening to the girls talk, a small frown on his face. She loved him? _'Really?'_ What about him? Did he love her? He had a lot to think about…

-end

Author's Note: Sooo, another chapter done! Next chapter will be the physical part of the exam, and it's gonna be a long one. I was gonna put the two together, but the two exams have their own sets of emotions that need to be conveyed, and having the two put together would sort of muddle it all up.

By the way, this is sort of weird, I don't know if any of you ever feel like this, but when you read a story, and you see it in your head, the bed scenes. If it's not specified, do you see the characters sleeping on a certain side (eg, Kakashi on the left, Lina on the right) etc? Well, while I write their bed scenes, I always somehow picture Lina ending up on the left, and Kakashi on the right, if you're looking at the bed from the foot of the bed. I don't know why, I just feel like that's how they'd sleep. What do you guys think? Oh and by the way, is anyone else feeling déjà vu here? I swear I wrote an author's note or something on bed sleeping positions, but I can't find it. Maybe it's just me...

And the exams begin! That 'gift' that Lina is gonna give him. It's not going to come until the very end, so don't even ask. I'm just going to keep dropping little hints to remind you that it's there, but you won't find out anything until the very last chapter (or the second last, if I put in an epilogue chapter).

Ooh, how was that last little onsen scene? Love is in the air, eh? And now Kakashi has something to think about.

By the way, I'm so sorry for being so late in posting this! But I wanted to hold off, because I wasn't satisfied. In fact, I'm still not sure I'm completely happy with how this chapter turned out. I mean, it had everything that I wanted, but somehow it feels like something is missing...I dunno. If I end up thinking of it before I post the next chapter, it'll be in a tiny one-shot type chapter within this story (e.g. it'll be my next post, but it won't necessarily have anything to do with the exams, because I've pretty much covered everything I wanted on that.)


End file.
